Trump responded to the election result by denying it and claiming the victory was his. He had the prospect of 2 politically difficult years in Congress. After the election, he fired his Attorney General Jeff Sessions and inmate Matthew Whitaker in the post. Whitaker had stated in advance that he did not mind firing Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller who was investigating the Trump campaign’s relations with Russia. (The firings and fury. The biggest Trump resignations and firings so far, Guardian 7/11 2018)
Despite denial of the election defeat, there was no doubt that Trump was emotionally shaken. During a subsequent press conference, he came up with quarrel with CNN journalist Jim Acosta. He refused to answer the journalist’s questions, and as the journalist subsequently held on and refused to hand over the microphone, the White House made sure to deprive him of his accreditation. This sparked criticism from an entire press corps and 10 days later a court rejected the White House’s decision. CNN regained access. That prompted Trump to call the judge an Obama judge, prompting the Supreme Court president to reprimand Trump and teach him that U.S. judges were above politics. (CNN’s Jim Acosta has White House pass revoked after Trump confrontation, Guardian 8/11 2018)
By the end of 2018, Hawaii politician Jennifer Ruggles ike had attended city council meetings for over 1/2 year because she believed Hawaii was not legally part of the United States and therefore not subject to North American law. In fact, she had a pretty good case. By 1893, the white colonists of the United States had thrown the Mexicans and the indigenous people out of the area that now exits the mainland United States. The colonial state therefore embarked on the conquest and incorporation of overseas territories. In the Kingdom of Hawaii, therefore, the colonial state deposed Queen LiliÊ»uokalani. It deployed a provisional government until the United States in 1898 decided to annex the country. That same year, it went to war with Spain for the purpose of incorporating, Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines into the United States. In February 2018, UN Human Rights Commissioner Alfred de Zayas wrote a report to the Human Rights Council stating: “The Hawaiian Islands… constitute a nation-state undergoing sort of occupation of the United States as a result of illegal military occupation and subsequent criminal annexation”. The consequence is that laws made by the Kingdom of Hawaii and not the United States are applicable in the country. The Washington regime rejects the view. (Hawaii politician stops voting, claiming islands are ‘occupied sovereign country’, Guardian 30/11 2018)
According to directoryaah, CIA director Gina Haspel briefed a number of key senators from both parties in early December on the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Both Democratic and Republican senators declared after the briefing that they were confident it was Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who had ordered the assassination. “There’s not a smoking gun, there’s a smoking saw,” declared Republican Lindsey Graham, who has traditionally been on Trump’s side. The reactions were a deep divide between Trump with major economic interests in Saudi Arabia on the one hand and Congress on the other. Just a week later, 56 senators voted to end US aid for the war against Yemen. 41 voted against. It was a serious political defeat for Trump. In the wake of the resolution, the Senate unanimously passed another resolution that unilaterally placed responsibility for the assassination of the Crown Prince. Trump and his government responded again by sabotaging a UK proposal in the UN Security Council on a ceasefire in Yemen. The sabotage was so severe that even the hard-working Security Council ambassador Nicky Haley fell ill. (US senators: we’re certain Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s murder, Guardian 4/12 2018; Senate votes to end US military support for Saudis in Yemen, Guardian 13/12 2018)
A US coal promotion during the December climate summit in Poland was met with protests and laughter. Trump had, among other things, sent its coal adviser Wells Griffith stating that the United States intended to increase the use of coal in a “clean way.” But there are no clean ways to use coal. The push was interrupted several times by protesters with calls such as “leave them in the ground” (the litters) and “shame on you”. The summit illustrated that the United States and Saudi Arabia were completely isolated in the climate issue. (Protesters disrupt US panel’s fossil fuels pitch at climate talks, Guardian 10/12 2018)
In mid-December, 7-year-old Guatemalan girl Jakelin Caal Maquin died while she and her father were in U.S. Border Police custody. The father had several times – unsuccessfully – made the authorities aware of the girl’s serious situation. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights later announced that the UN would investigate the matter. However, it was questionable whether the repressive regime would grant UN access. The extensive influx of refugees against the United States is a consequence of 130 years of US policy in Central America, which aimed solely at maximizing the profits of US mining companies and fruit groups. It has created politically distorted regimes that were in the pocket of the United States, most of the period military dictatorships and characterized by extreme poverty and violence. It is this Central American reality that today sends thousands of people fleeing in the direction of the United States, which for many still stands as the Promised Land, despite its delusions. (Anger grows after death of Guatemalan migrant girl held in US, Guardian 16/12 2018; Fleeing a hell the US helped create: why Central Americans journey north, Guardian 19/12 2018)
