Joint Statement from President Donald J. Trump and President Mauricio Macri
President Donald J. Trump hosted President Mauricio Macri of Argentina today to discuss ways to deepen the close partnership between the United States and Argentina. President Trump welcomed Argentina’s growing leadership role on the world stage and the political and economic reforms recently implemented by the Argentine Government, which have improved the environment for investment, trade, and long term economic development. President Trump offered his support to President Macri as Argentina prepares to host the World Trade Organization Ministerial and assume the G-20 Presidency.
The two leaders underscored their continuing commitment to expanding trade and investment between the United States and Argentina. Recognizing the importance of trade in agricultural products to the United States-Argentina bilateral economic relationship, the Presidents directed their Cabinets to expeditiously chart a path forward to resolve pending bilateral agricultural issues, based on scientific principles and international standards. The leaders further expressed their desire to see significant future growth in two-way trade of agricultural and industrial products to the benefit of producers and consumers in both countries.
They also pledged to strengthen our partnership to combat narcotics trafficking, money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, and other illicit finance activities through the newly established Argentina-United States Dialogue on Illicit Finance. Recognizing the benefits and risks of our increasing dependence on networked information, the leaders discussed the increased importance of cooperation on cyber policy. They agreed to launch a new bilateral Cyber Working Group, which will protect the security and economic interests of both countries, companies, and Internet users.
The two Presidents raised their strong concern over the deteriorating situation in Venezuela, and they agreed to work closely together to preserve democratic institutions in that country.
President Trump told President Macri that the United States will launch the Global Entry Trusted Travelers Program in Argentina in May, facilitating the expedited entry of pre-vetted, low-risk Argentine travelers through United States ports of entry. Argentina will be just the tenth country in the world admitted to this special program, which facilitates rising business and tourism ties while allowing United States border security personnel to focus resources on other potential risks.
Finally, at President Macri’s request, President Trump delivered a large tranche of declassified documents relating to human rights abuses in Argentina during its military dictatorship.
From Ivanka Trump………………….. :”I am deeply moved by the history of this memorial, honoring the six million European Jews whose lives were taken during the Holocaust.”
On her visit to Berlin , Germany.
Wild Thing’s comment………………
LOVE our military and now we finally have a wonderful CIC that is letting our military lead the way instead of politicians. Thank you God.
President Trump FULL REMARKS on Holocaust Remembrance Day ……..President Trump on Holocaust Remembrance Day: “Today we mourn, we remember, we pray and we pledge never again.” Remarks by President Trump at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum National Days of Remembrance
United States Capitol
Washington, D.C.
11:30 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you. Friends, members of Congress, ambassadors, veterans, and, most especially, to the survivors here with us today, it’s an honor to join you on this very, very solemn occasion. I am deeply moved to stand before those who survived history’s darkest hour. Your cherished presence transforms this place into a sacred gathering.
Thank you, Tom Bernstein, Alan Holt, Sara Bloomfield, and everyone at the Holocaust Memorial Council and Museum for your vital work and tireless contributions.
We are privileged to be joined by Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, friend of mine — he’s done a great job and said some wonderful words — Ron Dermer. The State of Israel is an eternal monument to the undying strength of the Jewish people. The fervent dream that burned in the hearts of the oppressed is now filled with the breath of life, and the Star of David waves atop a great nation arisen from the desert.
To those in the audience who have served America in uniform, our country eternally thanks you. We are proud and grateful to be joined today by veterans of the Second World War who liberated survivors from the camps. Your sacrifice helped save freedom for the world — for the entire world. (Applause.)
Sadly, this year marks the first Day of Remembrance since the passing of Elie Wiesel, a great person, a great man. His absence leaves an empty space in our hearts, but his spirit fills this room. It is the kind of gentle spirit of an angel who lived through hell, and whose courage still lights the path from darkness. Though Elie’s story is well known by so many people, it’s always worth repeating. He suffered the unthinkable horrors of the Holocaust. His mother and sister perished in Auschwitz. He watched his father slowly dying before his own young eyes in Buchenwald. He lived through an endless nightmare of murder and death, and he inscribed on our collective conscience the duty we have to remember that long, dark night so as never to again repeat it.
The survivors in this hall, through their testimony, fulfill the righteous duty to never forget, and engrave into the world’s memory the Nazi genocide of the Jewish people. You witnessed evil, and what you saw is beyond description, beyond any description. Many of you lost your entire family, everything and everyone you loved, gone. You saw mothers and children led to mass slaughter. You saw the starvation and the torture. You saw the organized attempt at the extermination of an entire people — and great people, I must add. You survived the ghettos, the concentration camps and the death camps. And you persevered to tell your stories. You tell of these living nightmares because, despite your great pain, you believe in Elie’s famous plea, that “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.”
That is why we are here today — to remember and to bear witness. To make sure that humanity never, ever forgets.
The Nazis massacred 6 million Jews. Two out of every three Jews in Europe were murdered in the genocide. Millions more innocent people were imprisoned and executed by the Nazis without mercy, without even a sign of mercy.
Yet, even today, there are those who want to forget the past. Worse still, there are even those filled with such hate, total hate, that they want to erase the Holocaust from history. Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil. And we’ll never be silent — we just won’t — we will never, ever be silent in the face of evil again. (Applause.)
Denying the Holocaust is only one of many forms of dangerous anti-Semitism that continues all around the world. We’ve seen anti-Semitism on university campuses, in the public square, and in threats against Jewish citizens. Even worse, it’s been on display in the most sinister manner when terrorists attack Jewish communities, or when aggressors threaten Israel with total and complete destruction.
This is my pledge to you: We will confront anti-Semitism (Applause.) We will stamp out prejudice. We will condemn hatred. We will bear witness. And we will act. As President of the United States, I will always stand with the Jewish people — and I will always stand with our great friend and partner, the State of Israel.
So today, we remember the 6 million Jewish men, women and children whose lives and dreams were stolen from this Earth.
We remember the millions of other innocent victims the Nazis so brutally targeted and so brutally killed. We remember the survivors who bore more than we can imagine. We remember the hatred and evil that sought to extinguish human life, dignity, and freedom.
But we also remember the light that shone through the darkness. We remember sisters and brothers who gave everything to those they loved — survivors like Steven Springfield, who, in the long death march, carried his brother on his back. As he said, “I just couldn’t give in.”
We remember the brave souls who banded together to save the lives of their neighbors — even at the risk of their own life. And we remember those first hopeful moments of liberation, when at long last the American soldiers arrived in camps and cities throughout occupied Europe, waving the same beautiful flags before us today, speaking those three glorious words: “You are free.”
It is this love of freedom, this embrace of human dignity, this call to courage in the face of evil that the survivors here today have helped to write onto our hearts. The Jewish people have endured oppression, persecution, and those who have sought and planned their destruction. Yet, through the suffering, they have persevered. They have thrived. And they have enlightened the world. We stand in awe of the unbreakable spirit of the Jewish people.
I want to close with a story enshrined in the Museum that captures the moment of liberation in the final days of the war.
It is the story of Gerda Klein, a young Jewish woman from Poland. Some of you know her. Gerda’s family was murdered by the Nazis. She spent three years imprisoned in labor camps, and the last four months of the war on a terrible death march. She assumed it was over. At the end, on the eve of her 21st birthday, her hair had lost all of its color, and she weighed a mere 68 pounds. Yet she had the will to live another day. It was tough.
Gerda later recalled the moment she realized that her long-awaited deliverance had arrived. She saw a car coming towards her. Many cars had driven up before, but this one was different. On its hood, in place of that wretched swastika, was a bright, beautiful, gleaming white star. Two American soldiers got out. One walked up to her. The first thing Gerda said was what she had been trained to say: “We are Jewish, you know.” “We are Jewish.” And then he said, “So am I.” It was a beautiful moment after so much darkness, after so much evil.
As Gerda took this solider to see the other prisoners, the American did something she had long forgotten to even expect — he opened the door for her. In Gerda’s words, “that was the moment of restoration of humanity, of humanness, of dignity, and of freedom.”
But the story does not end there. Because, as some of you know, that young American soldier who liberated her and who showed her such decency would soon become her husband. A year later, they were married. In her words, “He opened not only the door for me, but the door to my life and to my future.”
Gerda has since spent her life telling the world of what she witnessed. She, like those survivors who are among us today, has dedicated her life to shining a light of hope through the dark of night.
Your courage strengthens us. Your voices inspire us. And your stories remind us that we must never, ever shrink away from telling the truth about evil in our time. Evil is always seeking to wage war against the innocent and to destroy all that is good and beautiful about our common humanity. But evil can only thrive in darkness. And what you have brought us today is so much more powerful than evil. You have brought us hope — hope that love will conquer hatred, that right will defeat wrong, and that peace will rise from the ashes of war.
Each survivor here today is a beacon of light, and it only takes one light to illuminate even the darkest space. Just like it takes only one truth to crush a thousand lies and one hero to change the course of history. We know that in the end, good will triumph over evil, and that as long as we refuse to close our eyes or to silence our voices, we know that justice will ultimately prevail.
So today we mourn. We remember. We pray. And we pledge: Never again.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
Starbucks unveils ‘Military Family Stores,’ serving up jobs to American Veterans FOX News
At the Starbucks on Fort Campbell Boulevard in Clarksville, Tenn. — two miles from the U.S. military base — store manager Shannon Feltz pours hot coffee for a group of veterans seated at a communal table.
On a shelf next to the register are rows of green-and-white mugs reading: “Proudly serving those who serve.”
On Tuesday, the Clarksville store became one of 37 around the country designated by the coffeehouse chain as “Military Family Stores” — stores staffed primarily by veterans and military spouses as part of a larger effort to employ service members and their families nationwide.
Seventy-five percent of my business is the military,” said 47-year-old Feltz, a 14-year military spouse whose husband is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army.
“We are so excited about this announcement,” Feltz told Fox News.
Of the corporate Seattle-based coffee giant, Feltz said, “I’ve never felt so supported by a company in my life.”
Shannon Feltz Expand / Contract
Shannon Feltz, a military spouse, serves coffee at the new Starbucks Military Family Store in Clarksville, Tenn.
Starbucks on Tuesday unveiled four other new Military Family Stores: Two in Texas, serving Camp Mabry in Austin and Ft. Bliss in El Paso; one in Newport, Rhode Island, near Naval War College; and another in Bedford, Mass., a few miles from Joint Base Hanscom.
The stores — now at 37 — are part of a broader initiative by Starbucks to provide thousands of jobs to veterans and military spouses, while also serving as communal hubs where current and former service members can connect, share stories and become part of a larger support network.
The company has committed to hiring 25,000 veteran and military spouses by 2025. Starbucks has currently employed more than 10,000 veteran and military spouse partners since it announced its initiative in 2013.
“Service members and military spouses are the best example of engaged citizens,” John Kelly, a Starbucks senior vice president, said.
“Long after leaving active duty, they continue to vote, volunteer and serve their communities at a high rate, serving as the best examples of citizenship,” Kelly said. “We are honored to serve as a place where these American heroes can continue to impact their community in a positive way.”
In addition, many coffee shops designated as Military Family Stores have also joined the “Adopt a Military Unit program,” in which store partners sponsor units and send care packages to active military deployed overseas.
Approximately 453,000 veterans were unemployed in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate of veterans for that year varied across the nation, ranging from 1.8 percent in Indiana to 7.6 percent in the District of Columbia. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that 39,471 veterans are homeless on any given night.
Matt Kress, a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Iraq, worked as a firefighter in California before managing the veterans and military affairs program for Starbucks.
Kress described the transition from active combat to civilian life as a “frightening period” during which military personnel enter a “major unknown.”
Starbucks’ veteran initiative, he said, provides help in every way to a community whose unique needs are often overlooked.
“Some of our veterans are only with us for a year, while others are here longer,” he said. “This is their landing spot to figure out what they want to do with the rest of their life.”
Top Highlights From Sunday’s Shows White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on NBC’s Meet The Press: “[President Trump] is fulfilling his promises and doing it at breakneck speed.” CHIEF OF STAFF REINCE PRIEBUS: “First of all, if you look at the promises he made on immigration, you have border crossings down by 70%. You look at TPP, one of the first executive orders the President signed was getting out of TPP. You look at ethics, that was one of the bullet points. You had every employee of the West Wing signed an ethics pledge that said you’re not going to lobby for five years after you leave this place, and you’re never going to lobby for a foreign country. Look at Neil Gorsuch, first 100 days a Supreme Court justice is sworn in, first time since 1881. And if you just give me one minute, I won’t drone on. But, this idea about major legislation not being passed within the first 100 days, Barack Obama had a prebaked stimulus package that started in October … passed in February, it was pre-baked. George Bush didn’t get any major legislation until June. Clinton, August 10th. Bush 41, a year and a half later. Reagan, August 13th. Carter, 658 days after he took the office. Nixon, one year. Johnson, 225 days. Here is the deal, the President signed over 28 bills already. Health care may happen next week; it may not. We’re hopeful it will. As far as border security, you said the military. We have right now in the CR negotiating one of the biggest increases in military spending in decades. So, he is fulfilling his promises and doing it at breakneck speed.” OMB Director Mick Mulvaney on Fox’s Fox News Sunday: “We’re talking about historic accomplishment by this administration in the first 100 days.” DIRECTOR MICK MULVANEY: “What I think folks don’t realize is we’ve signed more legislation into law in the first 100 days than anybody in the last 50 years. We’ve put out more executive orders than any previous administration in the last 50 years and importantly, these are not creating new laws. Most of these are laws getting rid of other laws. Regulations getting rid of other regulations. We are reducing the role of government in your life during the first 100 days, and we are doing so on truly historic basis. Then you add Justice Gorsuch. No president has ever had a Supreme Court Justice confirmed in 100 days, and we’re talking about historic accomplishment by this administration in the first 100 days…” Attorney General Jeff Sessions on ABC’s This Week: “The President is honoring his promise to end the lawlessness at the border.” ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS: “I think the President is honoring his promise to end the lawlessness at the border. The first thing we need to do is to stop the additional flow of illegal people into our country. Many of these are involved in criminal enterprises, hauling drugs, and that kind of thing. We need to end that and then we have to wrestle what to do about people who have been here a long time. But, I would say that the President is honoring his commitments to the American people, to fix this border and we’re going to stay at it. The Border Patrol is working very hard and so is the Department of Justice. We’re going to back them up.” Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly on CNN’s State Of The Union: “We’re looking for bad men and women and we’re doing that very, very effectively.” SECRETARY JOHN KELLY: “As I’ve said repeatedly, Dana, the illegal aliens that we’re going after are not, if you will, simple, simply here illegally. We’re actually going after the very people that the sheriff references, in terms of criminals, that happen to be here also illegally. And would just highlight the fact that, you know, you can report crimes and not give your name. I mean, the 9-1-1 process is anonymous, if you want it to be. … I hear this a lot – that the reports are down and all that. I would just again tell the illegal immigrant community, if you are simply here illegally, we don’t really have the time to go after you. We’re looking for bad men and women and we’re doing that very, very effectively.”
President Trump Meeting with U.N. Security Council Ambassadors
THE PRESIDENT: This is a very, very important and powerful group of people, and it’s really wonderful to have you with us. And I have to say, welcome to the White House. It’s a privilege to have all of the ambassadors and their spouses. You know, they were going to leave out the spouses, and I said, you must bring your spouses. (Laughter.) You know, I heard there were a lot of very angry spouses — (laughter) — and this is their first time to the White House. So it’s a great honor to those of you that brought your wife or spouse.
As you know, the United States holds the presidency of the Security Council this month, and I’m glad that we are continuing the tradition of hosting the Council’s ambassadors in our nation’s capital. It’s our great honor, believe me.
I want to thank Ambassador Nikki Haley for her outstanding leadership, and for acting as my personal envoy on the Security Council. She’s doing a good job. Now, does everybody like Nikki? Because if you don’t — (laughter) — otherwise, she can easily be replaced. (Laughter.) No, we won’t do that, I promise. We won’t do that. She’s doing a fantastic job. And everyone, I see — even as we took pictures before — the friendship that you’ve developed, all of you together. That’s really a fantastic thing.
The mission of the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council is to maintain international peace and security. These are important aims and shared interests. But as we look around the world, it’s clear that there is much work for you to achieve. You’re going to be very busy people, I suspect, over these coming months and years.
Our nation faces serious and growing threats, and many of them stem from problems that have been unaddressed for far too long. In fact, the United Nations doesn’t like taking on certain problems. But I have a feeling that people in this room — and I know for a fact that Nikki feels very, very strongly about taking on problems that really people steered away from.
I encourage the Security Council to come together and take action to counter all of these many threats. On Syria, the Council failed again this month to respond to Syria’s use of chemical weapons. A great disappointment; I was very disappointed by that.
The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable, and the Council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs. This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem, and it’s a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it’s time to solve the problem.
For the United Nations to play an effective role in solving these and other security challenges, big reforms will be required. In addition, we must also take a close look at the U.N. budget. Costs have been — absolutely gone out of control. But I will say this: If we do a great job, I care much less about the budget, because you’re talking about peanuts compared to the important work you’re doing. You really are. You’re talking about the most important things ever. And I must say, I’m a budget person. You see the way I’m talking about NATO, the same thing, but if you do a great job at the United Nations, I feel much differently about it because we’re talking pennies compared to the kind of lives and money that you’ll be saving.
The United States, just one of 193 countries in the U.N., pays for 22 percent of the budget and almost 30 percent of the United Nations peacekeeping, which is unfair. We need the member states to come together to eliminate inefficiency and bloat, and to ensure that no one nation shoulders a disproportionate share of the burden militarily or financially. This is only fair to our taxpayers.
I look forward to a productive discussion about our shared role in keeping the peace, advancing reforms, and getting everyone to do their fair share.
I also want to say to you that I have long felt the United Nations is an underperformer but has tremendous potential. There are those people that think it’s an underperformer and will never perform. I think — and I think especially I’m so happy with the job that Nikki is doing and our representatives — but Nikki and the group — and I see the relationship that she has already developed.
I think that the United Nations has tremendous potential — tremendous potential — far greater than what I would say any other candidate in the last 30 years would have even thought to say. I don’t think it’s lived up — I know it hasn’t lived up to the potential. I mean, I see a day when there’s a conflict where the United Nations, you get together, and you solve the conflict. You just don’t see the United Nations, like, solving conflicts. I think that’s going to start happening now. I can see it. And the United Nations will get together and solve conflicts. It won’t be two countries, it will be the United Nations mediating or arbitrating with those countries.
So I see fantastic potential and fantastic things ahead for the United Nations. And I have to say, it’s a tremendous honor to know you and to meet you. And Nikki has given me a little briefing on each and every one of you, and I must tell you — I will tell you, you know, I’m a very blunt person, if she didn’t like I would tell you right now — (laughter) — but she gets along with everybody and respects everybody in this room.
I’ll end by saying that — unless you would rather not do it — so we have an office in the White House, you may have heard of it, called the Oval Office. So what we’ll do is we’ll go down as a group and we’ll take some pictures in the Oval Office. I know you’ve never seen it. Nobody seems to get to see the Oval Office very much, but we’re going to show you the Oval Office. So we’ll go down, take some pictures of the Oval Office, and we’ll have a good luncheon, and we’ll talk about the United Nations and we’ll talk about peace.
Thank you all very much for being here. It’s a great honor, and I’m glad you brought your spouses. Thank you. (Applause.)
Homeland Security Secretary and former General John Kelly and Dana Bash discuss his short lived “retirement”
LOL I really like General Kelly.~Chrissie.
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