BUDGET/ENTITLEMENTS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “On Friday [3-8-19], the White House announced that Karen Pence, the second lady, would lead a delegation to the United Arab Emirates in support of disabled American athletes at the Special Olympics. On Monday [3-11-19], the White House’s budget proposed striking $17.6 million in grants to expand the event. What a difference a few days can make. The Trump administration’s annual budget proposal on Monday envisioned a series of cuts that contrasted with the president’s own words of support for both programs and people — including some groups that make up his political base. To help make way for more military and border spending, it would slash programs large and small, from Medicaid and Medicare — which President Trump as a candidate promised to protect — to safety nets for farmers. Democrats, who control the House, immediately announced the budget proposal dead on arrival, and many of its ideas stand little chance of passing Congress. But it lays down a marker that could help chart the political course ahead, albeit a course that sometimes seems at odds with Mr. Trump’s own pronouncements.”
–Katie Rogers, “Trump Lauded Farmers, Medicare and AIDS Programs. Then Came His Budget Knife.,” The New York Times online, March 12, 2019