Today Donald Trump—or, at least someone in the Trump White House—discovered the art of filmmaking. In order to welcome home Aya Hijazi, an Egyptian-American aid worker who was released after three years in an Egyptian prison, Trump made a home movie. The movie features Lee Greenwood’s classic kitsch, “I’m Proud To Be an American” playing while an American flag undulates, as a Washington Post article on Hijazi’s release scrolls. It’s very, very, very, very, very good and I love it. Make sure you watch all the way to the end and feel that distinctive sense of patriotism that only Greenwood on a Friday can really produce. [Twitter]
Jeff Sessions sent letters to nine jurisdictions demanding that they prove that they are working with federal authorities to report undocumented workers or risk losing their federal funding. The letters were sent to Miami-Dade County, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Clark County in Nevada, Cook County in Illinois, Milwaukee County and the state of California. [Washington Post]
Sessions “is not able to comment” on whether or not the decision to issue an arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could open other news organizations to prosecution. [CNN]
Trump said “it’s OK with me,” if the Justice Department chooses to prosecute Assange. [Associated Press]
He also said he’s going to introduce a tax reform package next week. He promised that both businesses and individuals will receive a “massive tax cut.” No word on whether or not he will produce an amazing video to accompany its rollout. [Associated Press]
Here’s an interesting-ish piece on the conservative media. My one takeaway is that Steve Bannon called Megyn Kelly “the devil.” [Politico]
Not sure what to make of this, but apparently the military did not request permission from the President, the Defense Secretary or the Joints Chief of Staff before deciding to drop the MOAB on Afghanistan. [New York Times]
According to a new report, civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria have risen in the last few months after a series of U.S military or coalition-led airstrikes. The LA Times reports that: “The increase, coupled with President Trump’s tough-talking campaign rhetoric, has fed speculation that the new administration has signed off on a scorched-earth military policy.” [Los Angeles Times]
The Trump administration is preparing for a government shutdown even though they think it’s unlikely. To avoid a shutdown, Congress needs to approve a spending bill by midnight on April 28. [The Hill]
Trump said that he’s “looking forward to meeting the pope,” next month. The only problem is that the meeting hasn’t been confirmed. [The Guardian]
Florida Senator Frank Artiles announced his resignation after it was revealed that he called fellow Senator Audrey Gibson a “bitch” and used racial slurs to describe fellow Republicans. Bye! [Miami Herald]
Here are some tweets that the president was allowed to publish:
