Trump Faces Hefty Agenda in New Year
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump returns to Washington after his Christmas break facing a slew of domestic and international action items.
Fresh off his tax cut and reform victory on Capitol Hill, the president is hoping for more legislative action on his agenda in 2018.
This weekend, he's hosting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., at Camp David to plan out the 2018 legislative itinerary.
GOP leaders are eager to make more progress before lawmakers shift their focus to the midterm elections. At the top of Trump's agenda? Infrastructure.
"Two hundred billion dollars is the figure that Trump is going to at least put out there to begin with in terms of what he wants to spend – the White House calling that a floor not a ceiling number," CBN News Chief Political Correspondent David Brody said.
"They expect that number to go up, but the truth of the matter is… we’re looking at $1 trillion if you really want to get something done with the bridges and roads and airports in this country – so $200 billion ain’t gonna cut it," he added.
Brody predicts this is the one area where Trump may not face much Democratic opposition.
"I think this may actually be the one place where they get something done because they want to do infrastructure reform," he said. "I think what they’re (the Democrats) saying is that $200 billion won’t cut it – they want more money. What a shock, Democrats wanting more money. But Trump is going to slow at the beginning. We’ll see how that plays out."
Abroad, the president has taken a strong position supporting Iranian citizens protesting in the streets of Iran for more freedoms.
The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their “pockets.” The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
The Trump administration also continues to focus on North Korea's nuclear aggressions. In his New Year address, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un repeated nuclear threats against the U.S., saying his country's nuclear forces are now a reality, not a threat, and that he keeps a nuclear button on his desk.
Over the weekend, the president also posted a tweet accusing Pakistan, another nuclear power, of spewing lies and deceit and giving safe harbor to terrorists U.S. forces flush out of Afghanistan while taking billions in American aid.
The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
