NEWS AND OPINION:
President Trump will be on United Nations duty for the next 48 hours, meeting with leaders of the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Britain, Egypt, Ukraine, Turkey, Afghanistan, South Korea, Japan and multiple African nations. The media, meanwhile, is still weighing in on his inaugural address before the U.N. General Assembly, and as usual, the president inspired many adjectives. A sampling of what the often-dithering press thought of the 41-minute oration.
“The weirdest U.N. speech ever” (Washington Post); “Grand slam” (Washington Examiner); “A blunt, fearful rant” (The Guardian); “Forceful but highly unusual speech” (Los Angeles Times); “Trump sticks it to the U.N.” (Fox News); “Trump launches rhetorical rockets” (ABC News); “Maniacal U.N. soliloquy” (Vanity Fair); and finally, just plain “Trumpian.”
That last came from CNN editor-at-large Chris Cillizza, who says the president’s already famous phrases “totally destroy North Korea” and “Rocket Man” were the most “Trumpian” of all.
Mr. Trump earned cordial kudos from Republican lawmakers and political allies in the aftermath of his appearance.
“This is the international version of draining the swamp. The president went in there, he was extremely blunt — both about the failures of the U.N. but also challenging them to actually be productive for a change. Last year the U.N. did 24 resolutions. Twenty of them were against Israel. So I think that’s exactly the message that needed to be sent,” Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida told Fox News.
The Twitter realm was also percolating.
“Masterful speech. Proud of American values. No apologies. No retreat. God bless America,” tweeted Rep. Peter King of New York, while Marc Thiessen, who served as director of speechwriting for former President George W. Bush noted, “I helped write many POTUS UN addresses and this was one of the best ever delivered.”
Even former Gov. Mitt Romney — who publicly called Mr. Trump a “fraud” and a “phoney” last year — had this to say about the address in his own terse tweet: “President Trump gave a strong and needed challenge to UN members to live up to its charter and to confront global challenges.”
PAGING AL GORE
It could be time to mute the climate alarms. Things are not getting as hot as certain global warming enthusiasts predict.
“Computer modeling used a decade ago to predict how quickly global average temperatures would rise may have forecast too much warming, a study has found,” reports The Independent.
“The Earth warmed more slowly than the models forecast, meaning the planet has a slightly better chance of meeting the goals set out in the Paris climate agreement, including limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial levels,” the British news organization said. “Scientists said previous models may have been ‘on the hot side’. The findings indicate the danger may not be as acute as was previously thought.”
The study was published Tuesday by a team of 10 environmental and atmospheric scientists hailing from universities in Britain, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada. The research appears in Nature, an academic publication.
In the meantime, the Climate Reality Project — founded by Al Gore in 2006 to further the global warming cause — is not happy with the White House at the moment.
“President Trump has abdicated U.S. leadership on the challenges shaping our world today. Failing to address the climate crisis in his address to the UN is yet another example of an administration out of touch with both the American people and the global community,” says Ken Berlin, president and CEO of the organization.
THE BURGEONING GOP WAR CHEST
The Republican message must be resonating with donors. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and Finance Chairman Steve Wynn say that the GOP raised $7.3 million in August — bringing the grand total for the year to $93.3 million.
“I am convinced this unprecedented amount of support in a nonpresidential year reflects one thing and one thing only,” says Mr. Wynn. “Citizens in every state have donated to the Republican Party because they want even more of the economic and political leadership offered by our party and the Trump administration.”
The Democratic National Committee has not yet released its fundraising figures.
THE LIBERTARIANS START THEIR ENGINE
A third party is basically the first out of the gate as far as 2018 political conventions are concerned. The Libertarian Party has announced the place and date for its national gathering — from June 30 to July 3 at a spiffy hotel in New Orleans.
They are poised to “shape the future of the LP and the liberty movement,” advises an enthusiastic Wes Benedict, director of the party.
And their official motto for the upcoming year: “I’m THAT Libertarian.”
FOXIFIED
Fox News Channel continues to make a big footprint in the media universe. It is No. 1 across the entire cable realm in total viewers according to Nielsen Media Research — besting such rivals as ESPN and MSNBC.
As it has been for the last 15 years, Fox News remains the top news channel with 2.3 million average daily viewers; MSNBC drew 1.6 million and CNN 1 million.
Fox Business Network, meanwhile, continued its winning streak over CNBC with 195,000 average daily viewers, compared to CNBC’s 27,000, according to Nielsen.
POLL DU JOUR
• 82 percent of U.S. voters still support the candidate they voted for in 2016; 86 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of independents and 84 percent of Democrats agree.
• 30 percent of voters overall would like the next presidential candidate to be “more conservative”; 56 percent of Republicans, 22 percent of independents and 11 percent of Democrats agree.
• 19 percent overall would like the next candidate to be “more centrist”; 14 percent of Republicans, 28 percent of independents and 17 percent of Democrats agree.
• 27 percent of voters overall would like the next presidential candidate to be “more liberal”; 9 percent of Republicans, 20 percent of independents and 51 percent of Democrats agree.
• 24 percent overall are undecided about that choice; 22 percent of Republicans, 30 percent of independents and 21 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: A Morning Consult/Politico poll of 1,994 registered U.S. voters conducted Sept. 14-17.
• Balderdash and ballyhoo to jharper@washingtontimes.com
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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