TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Trump sent out a string of tweets Monday morning, defending his work ethics, dismissing the Russia investigation as a "hoax" and slamming the “fake news” media.
Six and a half months into his time in office, Trump has seen his legislative agenda stall in Congress. Most notably, his effort to repeal and replace Obamacare suffered a setback last month after a failed vote in the Senate.
Even though Trump enjoys a majority in both houses of the US Congress, the Republican Party seems as divided as it was before Trump's nomination.
Congressional Republicans are split on whether the debt ceiling should be raised with or without spending cuts. They overwhelmingly voted for a Russia sanctions package and forced Trump to sign it despite his objections. Republican senators also defended Attorney General Jeff Sessions after Trump attacked their former colleague as “weak” and “beleaguered.”
But Trump dismissed any talk of division within his party.
“The fact is the Fake News Russian collusion story, record Stock Market, border security, military strength, jobs..... Supreme Court pick, economic enthusiasm, deregulation & so much more have driven the Trump base even closer together. Will never change!” he said on Twitter.
Trump is also dealing with multiple investigations into possible collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia— including one by Special Counsel Robert Mueller that threatens to look into the president’s business transactions.
It was in that context that the president ripped into Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a former prosecutor, who has been urging Mueller to “follow the money” in his investigation of the alleged Russian interference in the election.
The president was referring to a 2010 controversy in which Blumenthal admitted to exaggerating his military service. Blumenthal once said he served “in” the Vietnam War, but later admitted he had only served “during” the war as a reservist.
Blumenthal hit back, accusing Trump of bullying, Presstv reported.
In addition, Trump is way behind with filling the roughly 4,000 positions across the government. As of August 4, when the Senate left for its summer recess, the Republican president had nominated only 277 people for key posts, of which 124 have been confirmed, according to CNN.