Donald Trump

Self-assurance carries the day.

Years and years ago, a television executive sent me to do a media training.

We looked at some clips, including one where I was convinced that I and the conservative host I was teamed up with had lost a debate to a progressive. The host got a very basic factual question wrong, and the progressive called him on it, and I assumed that was game, set, and match.

The Trump administration nixed the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), ending three decades of medical advice used by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) according to NBC.

A handful of committee members said the CDC delivered the news about HICPAC’s termination to members Friday, per the outlet.

The termination took effect more than a month previously, on March 31, according to a letter reviewed by NBC. 

President Donald Trump teased a "very, very big announcement" ahead of his upcoming trip to the Middle East. 

Trump has a planned visit to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the coming days. 

"We're going to have a very, very big announcement to make, like as big as it gets," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, where he is meeting with Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney. "And I won't tell you on what… and it's very positive."

President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said they were committed to bilateral friendship during a warm Oval Office exchange, even as Trump repeated his suggestion that Canada become the 51st state. 

Carney billed his meeting on Tuesday with Trump, the first since he became Canada’s leader, as the cornerstone for a relationship that will define his tenure. He has said he plans to recast the economic and security relationship between the countries in response to Trump’s trade agenda.

“You’re a transformational president,” Carney said.

Canadian visit: President Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, in the first meeting between the two leaders since Mr. Carney won a stunning election on an anti-Trump platform, sparred over the president’s talk of making Canada the 51st state. After Mr. Carney told Mr. Trump’s “some places are not for sale,” the president responded, “Never say never.” When the issue came up again, Mr. Carney said Canadians had no interest in joining the United States. “That’s not going to change,” he added.

You may have noticed that Donald Trump is not the most self-reflective person. At least, not in public. But last week at the University of Alabama, Trump delivered a commencement address that revealed more about his mind than any speech since taking office. Naturally, the press missed the story.

When Republicans took control of Congress in 1947, they were still angry that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had won a fourth term in 1944, and they set out to pass a constitutional amendment to limit future presidents to two terms. John Jennings, Republican of Tennessee, stood on the House floor and said a 22nd Amendment was necessary to prevent a dictator from taking over the country.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday afternoon ending the allocation of federal funding toward risky gain-of-function research in foreign countries like China, where the Covid-19 pandemic is believed to have originated.

The order targets the funding of gain-of-function research conducted in “countries of concern,” including Iran, and other nations that don’t have high oversight standards for biological research, according to a White House fact sheet. The directive is said to prevent the potential outbreak of another pandemic.

The Trump Organization, founded by President Donald Trump and co-led by his sons Eric and Donald Jr., on Wednesday announced a new deal to develop a luxury golf resort in Qatar, signaling it has no intention of slowing foreign business activity during Trump's second term.

Newsweek has emailed the Trump Organization via email on Wednesday night for comment.

Why It Matters

A United Arab Emirates-backed government fund said it will use a cryptocurrency backed by the family of President Trump as part of a $2 billion purchase of a minority stake in the scandal-tarred digital currency exchange Binance — a move that could pose multiple conflicts of interest.

The deal announced on Thursday between Abu Dhabi-backed MGX and Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, will be conducted using a digital currency created by World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s cryptocurrency firm.