9 questions Donald Trump needs to answer at today's news conference
Washington (CNN)President
Donald Trump hasn't taken questions from the White House press corps
since May 18. That's 22 days ago. That will change later today when he
holds a joint press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohanni.
Typically
in these sorts of joint pressers, the American media gets two questions
and the foreign press gets two questions. But I've got a lot more than
just two questions that Trump really needs to answer.
Below are the 9 questions Trump could -- and should -- be asked this afternoon.
1. "Did you record anything? Are there tapes?"
Back on May 12, Trump tweeted:
"James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations
before he starts leaking to the press!" That was just 72 hours after he
had fired the FBI director in a move that rocked Washington. Between
that tweet and today, the White House has offered no additional confirmation or denial of a secret taping system. None.
"Well, that I can't talk about," Trump said of the possibility of a recording system at the White House. "I won't talk about that."
Given
that he and Comey, who was under oath, are now painting very different
pictures of their interactions, Trump simply refusing to answer
questions about a secret taping system isn't really an option.
2. "Do you regret that May 12 'tapes' tweet? Or any tweet you have sent?"
The
May 12 tweet backs Trump into a corner. If he is secretly recording
conversations, it's going to be very difficult for those tapes not to be
released. If he isn't recording meetings and phone calls, then why did
he float the idea that he might be? To intimidate Comey or keep him from
talking? Trump's Twitter feed is the tip of the spear when it comes to
his self-inflicted wounds. He has been urged to stop tweeting by almost
every Republican in the country. Nevertheless, he persists. Why? And can
he acknowledge that some of the tweets he sends -- like the "tapes" one
or the one alleging President Obama wiretapped him -- are simply ill-advised or wrong?
3. "Do you have confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions?"
Earlier
this week, a series of stories emerged portraying the relationship
between the President and his top cop as decidedly strained. Sessions
even offered to resign. In Comey's testimony on Thursday, he ran down
Sessions on several occasions -- once suggesting he couldn't in a public
session explain why he knew the AG would recuse himself on the Russia
probe and also noting that Sessions did nothing to stop Trump from
repeatedly reaching out to him about the Russia probe. Asked this week
about whether Trump has confidence in Sessions, White House mouthpieces
have offered pap like "the President has confidence in all of his Cabinet." So ...
4. "Do you believe in global warming?"
Trump
has a long record -- as a private citizen and as a presidential
candidate -- of expressing deep skepticism of global warming. He
famously/infamously tweeted in 2012 that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."
In the wake of his decision last week to pull the US out of the Paris
climate accords, administration officials were repeatedly quizzed by
reporters about whether Trump's views on climate change have, um,
changed. With the exception of UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who told CNN's
Jake Tapper that "President Trump believes the climate is changing and he believes pollutants are part of the equation,"
there have been precious few allies of the president willing to speak
up. Now is Trump's chance to clear up his views once and for all.
Tapper: Comey said Trump can't be trusted 01:34
5.
"You responded 'no' when asked if you asked Comey to end the Flynn
investigation. Did you say you 'hoped' he could end it? And is there a
difference?"
The Trump
White House -- and Republican elected officials who continue, generally
speaking, to stand by the President -- are pinning a whole lot on the
fact that Trump said he "hoped" Comey would find a way to end the
investigation into the former national security adviser. Here's Idaho
Sen. Jim Risch making that point in his questioning of Comey on
Thursday: "(Trump) said, I hope ... Do you know of any case where a
person has been charged for obstruction of justice or, for that matter,
any other criminal offense, where they said or thought they hoped for an
outcome?" Comey responded that regardless of the words Trump used that
it was clear his intention was to ask for the investigation to be
closed. Why doesn't Trump agree?
6.
"British Prime Minister Theresa May has been one of your staunchest
foreign defenders. In the final days of the UK election, you became an
issue for her due to your comments about the London attacks. What
message do you take from May's setback?"
May
was the first foreign leader to visit the Trump White House -- despite
the fact that the American President is deeply unpopular in the United
Kingdom. Trump became a much more problematic figure for May as the UK
campaign wore on -- and as he attacked London Mayor Sadiq Khan as
"pathetic" in the wake of the London terror attacks. Trump has been more
than willing to claim credit for past election results -- he called Brexit, remember! Would he throw May under the bus? Or own a part of her loss?
7.
"When you praised Saudi Arabia for severing all ties to Qatar due to
allegations that the country finances terrorism, were you aware that
Qatar also houses the largest US base in the region?
On Tuesday morning, Trump sent two tweets. "So
good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries
already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on
funding...," read the first. "...extremism, and all reference was
pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the
horror of terrorism!," he continued.
The tweets followed hard on the decision by several Arab nations to cut
diplomatic relations with Qatar due to suspected terrorist financing
ties. By Wednesday, Trump appeared to reverse course. He spoke to the Qatari Emir and offered to broker peace between the nations. So, which is it? Did Trump simply change his position? Or did he not know about the US interests in Qatar when he tweeted?
8.
"Speaker Paul Ryan defended your meetings with Comey by saying, 'he's
new to this.' Is Speaker Ryan accurate in that assessment?"
Ryan's comments on Thursday
are the latest attempt by Republican establishment types to grade Trump
on a curve. He's an outsider! He's never been president before! He's
learning on the job! While that strikes me as a less-than-convincing
explanation -- Trump ran for the job and got elected to the job so it's
not unreasonable to think he would do the legwork to do the job
-- it's also one that could help Trump wiggle out of what looks like a
very tight spot in regards what he told Comey. At the same time, Trump
is a very proud guy, who does not like to admit, ever, that he doesn't
know exactly what he is doing. So, which road would he take?
9.
"You and your attorney, Marc Kasowitz, said that Comey falsely
testified under oath about his conversations with you. Will you testify
under oath about your conversations with Mr Comey?"
It's
one thing to accuse someone else of lying. It's another to accuse them
of lying under oath, which is what Trump and Kasowitz have done. Lying
under oath means you could wind up in jail. Remember, too, that Trump
and Comey are not playing by the same rules. Comey has testified under
oath about his meetings and interactions with Trump. Trump has not done
the same in regards those same meetings.
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