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Monday 21 August 2017

Trump Gets Little Air Cover From Fellow Republicans


Trump Gets Little Air Cover From Fellow Republicans BRIDGEWATER, N.J.—President Donald Trump returns to the White House Sunday after a working vacation at his New Jersey golf club, amid signs he has alienated some congressional Republicans by saying both white-nationalist demonstrators and counterprotesters deserved blame for the recent violent clash in Virginia. Mr. Trump has a long to-do list: He is expected to lay out a much-anticipated plan Monday night for a new strategy in the long-running conflict in Afghanistan. He must help forge a consensus in Congress on a... Donald Trump's fellow Republicans hit 'turning point' in voicing doubts over presidency President Donald Trump's racially fraught comments about a deadly neo-Nazi rally have thrust into the open some Republicans' deeply held doubts about his competency and temperament, in an extraordinary public airing of worries and grievances about a sitting president by his own party. Behind the high-profile denunciations voiced this week by GOP senators once considered Trump allies, scores of other, influential Republicans began to express grave concerns about the state of the Trump presidency. In interviews with Associated Press reporters across nine states, 25 Republican politicians, party officials, advisers and donors expressed worries about whether Trump has the self-discipline and capability to govern successfully. Eric Cantor, the former House majority leader from Virginia, said Republicans signaled this week that Trump's handling of the Charlottesville protests was "beyond just a distraction." "It was a turning point in terms of Republicans being able to say, we're not even going to get close to that," Cantor said. Chip Lake, a Georgia-based GOP operative who did not vote for Trump in the general election, raised the prospect of the president leaving office before his term is up. "It's impossible to see a scenario under which this is sustainable under a four-year period," Lake said. Trump's handling of the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, has shaken his presidency unlike any of the other self-created crises that have rattled the White House during his seven months in office. Business leaders have bolted from White House councils, wary of being associated with the president. Military leaders distanced themselves from Trump's assertion that "both sides" -- the white supremacists and the counter-protesters -- were to blame for the violence that left one protester dead. And some members of Trump's own staff were outraged by his combative assertion that there were "very fine people" among those marching with the white supremacists, neo-Nazis and KKK members. Importantly, the Republicans interviewed did not line up behind some course of action or an organized break with the president. Some expressed hope the recent shakeup of White House advisers might help Trump get back in control of his message and the GOP agenda. Still, the blistering and blunt statements from some Republicans have marked a new phase. Until now, the party has largely kept its most troubling doubts about Trump to whispered, private conversations, fearful of alienating the president's loyal supporters and upending long-sought GOP policy goals. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and a foreign policy ally of the Trump White House, delivered the sharpest criticism of Trump, declaring that the president "has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to" in dealing with crises. Corker's comments were echoed in the interviews with two dozen Republican officials after Trump expressed his views in Tuesday's press conference. More than half spoke on the record, while the others insisted on anonymity in order to speak candidly about the man who leads their party and remains popular with the majority of GOP voters. A handful defended Trump without reservation. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, an early supporter of the president, said he "proudly" stands with Trump and said he was succeeding despite a "constant barrage of negative attacks from the left." But others said recent events had shifted the dynamic between the president and his party. "I was never one that was convinced that the president had the character to lead this nation, but I was certainly willing to stand by the president on critical issues once he was elected," said Clarence Mingo, a Republican state treasurer candidate in Ohio. "Now, even where good conservative policies are concerned, that progress is all negated because of his inability to say and do the right things on fundamental issues." In Kentucky, Republican state senator Whitney Westerfield called Trump's comments after the Charlottesville protests "more than a gaffe." "I'm concerned he seems to firmly believe in what he's saying about it," Westerfield said. Trump has survived criticism from establishment Republicans before, most notably when GOP lawmakers across the country distanced themselves from him in the final weeks of the campaign following the release of a video in which the former reality television star is heard making predatory sexual comments about women. Many of those same lawmakers ultimately voted for Trump and rallied around his presidency after his stunning victory. GOP efforts to align with Trump have largely been driven by political realities. The president still commands loyalty among his core supporters, though some recent polls have suggested a slight weakening there. And while his style is often controversial, many of his statements are often in line with those voters' beliefs, including his support after Charlottesville for protecting Confederate monuments. Brian Westrate, a small business owner in western Wisconsin who is also chairman of the 3rd Congressional District Republican Party, said Trump supporters long ago decided to embrace the unconventional nature of his presidency. "I don't think that anything has fundamentally changed between now and when the election was," he said. "The president remains an ill-artful, ill-timed speaker who uses Twitter too often. That's not new. ... The president is still the same guy and the left is still the same left." Some White House officials do privately worry about slippage in Trump's support from congressional Republicans, particularly in the Senate. GOP senators couldn't cobble together the 50 votes needed to pass a health care overhaul and that same math could continue to be a problem in the fall, as Republicans work on reforming the tax code, which is realistically the party's last opportunity to pass major legislation in 2017. Tom Davis, a Republican state senator representing a coastal South Carolina district, said that when Trump can move beyond the crisis of the moment, he articulates policies that could help the country's economic situation. But Davis said Trump is also part of the reason not much progress has been made. "To his discredit, he's been maddeningly inconsistent in advancing those policies, which is part of the reason so little has been accomplished in our nation's capital these past six months," Davis said. Mike Murphy, a veteran Republican strategist who most recently tried to help Jeb Bush win the 2016 GOP presidential primary, said the early optimism some Republicans felt about their ability to leverage Trump's presidency has all but evaporated in the days following the Charlottesville protests. "Most party regulars have gone from an initial feeling of guarded optimism that Trump would be able to stumble along while Mitch (McConnell) and (Paul) Ryan do the big lifting and pass our Republican agenda to a current feeling of deep frustration and despair," Murphy said. - - - Story by Bill Barrow and Julie Pace. Barrow reported from Atlanta. AP writers Julie Bykowicz in Washington, Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Adam Beam in Frankfort, Kentucky, contributed to this report. The murder of a beloved anti-poaching crusader steels the resolve of fellow conservationists Wayne Lotter, a prominent elephant conservationist murdered this week in Tanzania, for years had faced death threats related to his anti-poaching work, according to friends and colleagues. The 51-year-old South African was shot dead Wednesday in the East African nation’s port city of Dar es Salaam. The wildlife organization he helped found, PAMS Foundation, said on its Facebook page that Tanzanian law enforcement had launched an investigation into the killing, which many in the conservationist community believe was an assassination. “It’s the most likely [motive] but we’ll wait to see what the police come out with,” said Sean Willmore, president of the International Ranger Federation, of which Lotter was once vice president. “Those who are close to the game probably think there’s a strong correlation that it was due to his anti-poaching efforts.” “Everyone is angry, we’re sad, we’re in mourning, but at the same time there’s a steely determination for everyone to ensure that not only does PAMS work and Wayne’s legacy survive, but it’s doubled,” he said. Tanzanian police could not be reached for comment, and PAMS did not immediately respond to a request for more information. The Guardian newspaper reported Thursday that Lotter was being driven from the airport to his hotel when another vehicle stopped his taxi. Two men, one with a gun, opened his car door and shot him, the newspaper reported. In an article on Friday, the publication reported that Tanzanian police believe the wildlife activist may have been tracked by his killer. Over the past 10 years, more than 1,000 park rangers have been killed worldwide, 80% of them by commercial poachers and armed militia groups, according to data from the International Ranger Federation. Nonrangers and environmental activists have also been killed for their anti-poaching activities, Willmore said. Since launching PAMS in 2009, Lotter had become a target of poachers. “Wayne was very cognizant of threats that were coming his way,” Willmore said. “Literally, he would have threats all the time on his life. So he didn’t do [his work] blindly. He did this knowing the threats were there, but such was his passion for conservation. There’s only two alternatives — do the work or give up. And there’s no way Wayne Lotter was going to give up.” Phil Marty / Chicago Tribune This 2015 file photo shows elephants on the Serengeti, in Tanzania. This 2015 file photo shows elephants on the Serengeti, in Tanzania. (Phil Marty / Chicago Tribune) On its Facebook page, PAMS posted a tribute to Lotter, praising him for devoting his life to Africa’s wildlife, “from working as a ranger in his native South Africa as a young man to leading the charge against poaching in Tanzania.” “Wayne cared deeply about the people and animals that populate this world,” the statement said. “[He] believed communities were the best protectors of the continent’s animals. Through his work with PAMS he helped train thousands of village game scouts in every corner of the country.” Lotter is also credited with developing an “intelligence-based approach” to anti-poaching. The strategy, which largely focuses on using informants and surveillance techniques to combat repeat offenders, has helped reduce rampant poaching in Tanzania, according to PAMS. In a Facebook post, the Elephant Crisis Fund, a joint initiative of Save the Elephants and the Wildlife Conservation Network, said that with the help of PAMS, Tanzania’s National and Transnational Serious Crime Investigations Unit had arrested 1,398 poachers and ivory traffickers in recent years, 78% of whom were convicted. “This has been the first significant win against a wave of poaching that slashed Tanzania's elephant population by 60% between 2007 and 2016,” the organization said. In the mid-1970s, according to the World Wildlife Fund, nearly 110,000 elephants roamed the savannas, wetlands, and forests of Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania’s oldest and largest protected area and a World Heritage Site. In June last year, the organization reported that rampant ivory poaching had slashed the animals’ number to 15,000. Jason Straziuso / Associated Press In this 2013 file photo, a Maasai boy and his dog stand near the skeleton of an elephant killed by poachers outside of Arusha, Tanzania. In this 2013 file photo, a Maasai boy and his dog stand near the skeleton of an elephant killed by poachers outside of Arusha, Tanzania. (Jason Straziuso / Associated Press) "Wayne’s death will be a major setback in fighting against poaching in Tanzania,” Amani Ngusaru, Tanzania country director for the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement. News of Lotter’s death saturated social media with tributes from the international conservation community. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who in 1998 established a foundation with the stated mission of protecting the world’s last wild places, tweeted: “We lost a true conservation hero who fought so hard to protect Africa’s elephants.” Primatologist Jane Goodall called Lotter “a hero of mine, a hero to many,” in an obituary posted on PAMS website. “His courage in the face of stiff opposition and personal threats, and his determination to keep on fighting, has inspired many, and encouraged them also to keep fighting for wildlife,” Goodall wrote. “If this cowardly shooting was an attempt to bring the work of the PAMS Foundation to an end it will fail. Those who have been inspired by Wayne will fight on.” Lotter is survived by his wife, Inge, daughters Cara Jayne and Tamsin, and parents, Vera and Charles Lotter. ann.simmons@latimes.com For more on global development news, see our Global Development Watch page, and follow me @AMSimmons1 on Twitter ALSO

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