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Posted: 2017-05-06 04:59:12

Posted May 06, 2017 14:59:12

It was a bit of a love-in when the PM met the US President in New York this week.

While the band played Waltzing Matilda (badly), the two leaders spoke of family, mateship and standing shoulder to shoulder through history.

"Since the first World War, when Australians led Americans in the Battle of the Fromelles, our brave warriors have fought shoulder to shoulder in every major conflict, together; their righteous cause has always been the same, the safety of our citizens and the survival of our freedom," Donald Trump said.

For his part, Malcolm Turnbull said: "We fight together in Iraq and Afghanistan to defeat and to destroy the terrorists who threaten our way of life.

"From the mud of Fromelles to the waters of the Coral Sea, to the sands of the Middle East today, Australians and Americans stand shoulder to shoulder defending our freedoms."

It was all very warm in spite of the now infamous phone call over the Australian refugee deal earlier this year.

Mr Trump admits the call was "testy" but says the way it was covered was "fake news".

Either way the issue is now a non-issue.

The President says it was sorted out ages ago and while the White House says it's still a "raw nerve" for Mr Trump, he blames bad negotiation by the Obama administration rather than Australia.

So that's final, final, final confirmation that the deal is proceeding, subject to extreme vetting of the refugees involved.

In sickness and in health

Given that this was the first meeting since that phone call however, the fact that Mr Trump pushed the meeting back a few hours because, according to a White House spokeswoman, "he had other things to take care of" raised some eyebrows.

Those other things turned out to be a celebration in the White House Rose Garden with Republican congressmen where the President said "we want to brag about the plan" after his healthcare policy made it through the House.

All while Mr Turnbull was kept waiting.

It was a substantial victory for Republicans and Mr Trump. After earlier failing to secure enough support to even warrant a vote on the House floor, this time the bill passed with the narrowest of margins: 217-213.

How's the irony of this tweet from 2014?

On the floor, Democrats sang "Na-na-na-na goodbye" to Republicans, suggesting they'll now lose their seats in 2018.

The bill, which still needs to pass the Senate (where it will likely undergo significant change), allows states to waive minimum benefit rules and rules to prevent insurers from charging higher premiums to those with pre-existing conditions (which can range from pregnancy to asthma to reflux to depression — you name it).

However, the reality is we still don't know much about the bill. In fact, Republicans rammed it through the House so quickly, the Congressional Budget Office didn't even get a chance to score it.

Ultimately, it appeared as though Republicans wanted to get the poisoned chalice of healthcare reform out of their chamber and into the Senate — regardless of what was in the bill.

It'll be (at least) weeks until this bill becomes a law.

Understanding the complexities of getting bills through houses, Mr Turnbull congratulated Mr Trump on his victory, even though it may result in millions losing their health cover.

At the same time, Mr Trump's admission that Australia has better health care than the US got A LOT of attention, including from senior socialist Bernie Sanders, who thought it was absolutely hilarious:

But Mr Trump didn't seem too fussed by the raised eyebrows and the White House later clarified his comments, saying the President was simply saying nice things to an ally.

Ivanka might need to take hard cover

The Special Assistant to the President and first daughter has found the time to release a book this week.

Women Who Work, by Ivanka Trump, hit the shelves as a guide for working women.

It's been met with some brutal reviews:

Jennifer Senior, NYT: "A strawberry milkshake of inspirational quotes"

Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR: "The aesthetic of a Pinterest board"

The Associated Press gave it a more general review, describing it as "earnest advice for women on advancing in the workplace, balancing family and professional life and seeking personal fulfilment".

The New York Times revealed this week that it was going to be a podcast. Alas.

However here's a cute video of Ivanka dancing with her kids:

Ad-ing fuel to the fire

The Trump campaign has released an ad celebrating the successes of its first 100 days:

While you can watch it online, you won't find it on CNN. The cable network refused to air it because of the graphic referring to fake news.

According to CNN, "the mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false".

The Trump campaign reply? "CNN epitomises the meaning of fake news and has proven it by rejecting our paid campaign ad."

Mr Trump's relationship with the press probably won't improve after this interview with CBS's John Dickerson.

Some of the best exchanges include this one on the "Oval Office":

And this one on the allegations from the President that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped him:

She said

"If the election had been on October 27, I would be your president." — Hillary Clinton, rehashing history in a discussion with CNN's Christiane Amanpour at a Women to Women International event in New York this week.

That's highly debatable.

She of course was speaking about FBI director James Comey's decision to reopen the investigation into her use of a private sever as Secretary of State.

It came after further emails were found on the computer of Anthony Weiner, husband of Mrs Clinton's aide Huma Abedin, 11 days out from the election.

What does Mr Comey think about that? Well, funny you ask because he gave testimony to the Senate Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

He didn't speak directly to the comments by Mrs Clinton but did give this frank account of his feelings:

"Look, this is terrible. It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election. But honestly, it wouldn't change the decision."

Mr Comey also reaffirmed that the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign and its possible links to Russia is ongoing — as is Russian meddling in US politics.

The President also weighed in, via Twitter:

And Sean Spicer made the sports analogy that the game isn't over at three-quarter time and likewise, the election wasn't over until November 8. Fair.

He also referred to talk about who won the election at this point as "sad" when last week this was his boss:

The acting attorney-general who was fired by Mr Trump, Sally Yates, and the director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, will be giving evidence to the committee next week.

Watch this space.

ICYMI

Other weird things you may have missed this week:

1. Mr Trump questioning why there was a Civil War in the States.

2. Steve Bannon posing in front of a white board that shows the administration's priorities (and suggests that Mexico will "eventually" pay for the wall):

3. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross referring to a 59-tomahawk missile strike issued on Syria last month during Chinese President Xi Jingping's visit to Mar-a-Lago as "after-dinner entertainment".

Where's Obama?

He's throwing his weight behind Emanuel Macron ahead of the French presidential election this weekend:

Let's see if his endorsement works this time! Vive la France!

Our New York train is almost into DC's Union Station folks. Until next week.

Topics: world-politics, donald-trump, united-states

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