The White House • July 13, 2018
The Day Ahead
President Donald J. Trump and the First Lady are receiving an Official Greeting from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Berkshire, England.
‘The highest level of special’
President Trump arrived in England yesterday, where he joined Prime Minister Theresa May for an arrival ceremony and met with U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Woody Johnson. This morning, the President held a bilateral meeting and working lunch with U.K. leaders.
The President made his priority clear. “Once the Brexit process is concluded—and perhaps the U.K. has left the EU, I don’t know, whatever you’re going to do is okay with us,” President Trump said. “Just make sure we can trade together. That’s all that matters.”
Prime Minister May agreed, saying the two leaders pledged “to pursue an ambitious deal that works for both countries right across our economies.” Both President Trump and the Prime Minister praised the relationship between America and Britain, which President Trump called “the highest level of special.” U.K. leaders have given their American visitors a warm welcome: President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will have tea today with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.
Follow President Trump’s trip to Europe in photos.
Watch: The President describes America’s special relationship with Britain.
Stamping out consumer fraud
President Trump is establishing a task force to promote market integrity and to combat consumer fraud, comprised of senior officials from the Department of Justice, Federal financial regulators, and members across the Cabinet.
The Trump Administration has no tolerance for those who would harm consumers and investors, and it will continue to prosecute fraud to the full extent permitted by law. In February 2018, the Department of Justice announced the largest coordinated sweep of elder fraud cases in history, cracking down on financial schemes that targeted or largely affected older Americans.
The bottom line: Consumers and investors should be able to participate in a fair marketplace that rewards sound economic decisions, not fraudulent activity.
Learn more about President Trump’s fight against fraud.
Photo of the Day
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump participate in an arrival ceremony at Blenheim Palace with Prime Minster Theresa May and her husband Philip May | July 12, 2018
Τhe Day Ahead
President Donald J. Trump has landed in England, where he will participate in an arrival ceremony with First Lady Melania Trump later today.
Success in Brussels
As the NATO summit concluded in Brussels today, President Trump held an extended press conference to explain what American leadership has achieved. At the President’s request, every NATO member “has agreed to substantially up their commitment. They're going to up it at levels that they never thought of before," President Trump said.
This American success underscores President Trump’s philosophy abroad: Actions speak louder than words. The United States values its transatlantic partners, and our leaders want to see that every member state invests in NATO’s future.
President Trump will continue building close ties with America’s friends as he visits the United Kingdom today. The President has worked extensively with British Prime Minister Theresa May, pushing for fair and reciprocal trade deals and joining forces with Britain and France to hold Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad accountable for chemical weapons attacks.
Watch President Trump’s press conference this morning from Brussels.
The big picture: How President Trump restored U.S. leadership on the world stage
The ‘conservative nature’ of paid family leave
“In September 2016, when then-Republican presidential primary candidate Donald J. Trump called for a national paid family leave plan, pundits called it ‘a striking departure from GOP orthodoxy.’ Indeed it was,” First Daughter and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump writes. “[Now] there is burgeoning agreement on the intrinsically conservative nature of a national paid family leave plan.”
Thanks largely to Ivanka Trump’s efforts, a key Senate panel came together yesterday to examine a range of paid family leave ideas for America. Their effort gives “this critical issue real bipartisan momentum for the first time,” Ms. Trump says.
Social and fiscal conservatives alike are recognizing the importance of paid family leave. “Social conservatives underscore paid leave as a way to forge more tightly bonded families . . . Fiscal hawks recognize the efficiency of increasing workforce attachment and minimizing government dependence. And everyone shares the concern for our country’s plummeting fertility rates, now the lowest in history,” Ms. Trump writes.
Ivanka Trump’s op-ed: Paid family leave is an investment in America’s families
Photo of the Day
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization watch entertainers prior to a working dinner | July 11, 2018
The Day Ahead
President Donald J. Trump continues his European trip, participating in a welcoming ceremony in Belgium with First Lady Melania Trump. Watch live at 1:10 p.m. ET.
This morning in Europe
As the NATO summit began in Brussels, President Trump delivered a clear message to America’s allies: The transatlantic Alliance is too important not to invest in. “The United States is paying far too much, and other countries are not paying enough,” the President said this morning.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg echoed that goal. “We will continue to focus on defense spending, because as the President just said, NATO Allies have to invest more in defense, and that’s not exactly what they’re doing,” he said. President Trump thanked the Secretary General for working hard to make progress. “He understands the problem.”
While former President Obama also urged our NATO allies to share the defense burden, President Trump is the one getting results. Since President Trump took office, each member state has increased its defense spending: In 2017 alone, we saw an increase of more than 4.8 percent in defense spending among our NATO Allies. “But that’s not nearly enough,” President Trump makes clear.
Watch President Trump meet with NATO leadership in Brussels this morning.
Why it matters: America’s lasting commitment to NATO
Support builds for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee
Judge Brett Kavanaugh is widely admired as a brilliant jurist with impeccable legal credentials, and those qualifications are earning him widespread support on Capitol Hill and beyond. In less than 48 hours since President Trump announced Judge Kavanaugh as his nominee for the High Court, nearly 100 members of Congress and counting have expressed their support.
Former President George W. Bush weighed in, as well. “President Trump has made an outstanding decision in nominating Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Brett is a brilliant jurist who has faithfully applied the Constitution and laws throughout his 12 years on the D.C. Circuit,” the former President says.
Senate leaders agree. “President Trump has made a superb choice,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) adds that “Judge Kavanaugh is one of the most qualified Supreme Court nominees to come before the Senate.”
See the growing support for Judge Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court.
More: President Trump’s historically transparent process for choosing a nominee
Photo of the Day
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump depart for Brussels, Belgium | July 10, 2018
