{"id":230788,"date":"2019-09-13T02:12:02","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T06:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=230788"},"modified":"2019-09-13T02:12:02","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T06:12:02","slug":"trump-mocks-democrats-vows-new-tax-cut-in-trip-to-baltimore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/09\/13\/trump-mocks-democrats-vows-new-tax-cut-in-trip-to-baltimore\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump mocks Democrats, vows new tax cut in trip to Baltimore\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Trump obliquely addressed his earlier insults against Baltimore, promising Republicans would \u201cfight for the future of cities like Baltimore that have been destroyed by decades of failed and corrupt rule.\u201d
(File Photo<\/a>: @realdonaldtrump\/Instagram<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BALTIMORE \u2014 President Donald Trump sought to boost the spirits of Republican lawmakers Thursday, mocking Democrats and promising a new tax cut package, as he returned to the city he recently disparaged as a \u201crat and rodent infested mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump spoke to House Republicans attending an annual retreat in a hotel on Baltimore’s waterfront. Protesters gathered nearby. But inside, the president found a friendly audience of legislators whose political futures are closely tied to how well he performs in next year’s election. They greeted him with a chant of \u201cfour more years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump obliquely addressed his earlier insults against Baltimore, promising Republicans would \u201cfight for the future of cities like Baltimore that have been destroyed by decades of failed and corrupt rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said \u201cthe left-wing agenda\u201d of regulations, crippling taxes and \u201cunrestricted migration\u201d has undermined law enforcement and devastated America’s inner cities. \u201cWe’re going to have to step in and do something about it because we can’t allow that to happen to our great cities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Trump had lashed out at Baltimore in a series of July tweets critical of Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, who represents the city’s majority-black 7th Congressional District. Cummings also chairs the House oversight panel conducting numerous investigations of the administration’s policies and work.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Trump emphasized some of the biggest wins of his presidency, such as boosting military spending, slashing regulations and expanding a program that gives veterans the option to see private doctors outside the Veterans Affairs medical system. He touted the $1.5 trillion tax cut package passed in 2017 and promised to deliver another tax cut proposal next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working on a tax cut for the middle-income people that is going to be very, very inspirational. It’s going to be something that I think it’s what everyone’s really looking for,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIt will be a very, very substantial tax cut for middle-income folks, who work so hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation when he promised to uphold the right to keep and bear arms.<\/p>\n

The president hasn’t committed to specific gun legislation, but White House officials, lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff have held frequent meetings to discuss options aimed at curbing gun violence following shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, that left more than 30 people dead over a single August weekend.<\/p>\n

The president addressed lawmakers one day after the Supreme Court cleared the way for his administration to deny nearly all asylum claims from Central Americans. He highlighted that win as well as the victories of Republicans Dan Bishop and Greg Murphy in special elections this week in North Carolina. He told the Republicans he expected them to win back the majority in the House next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re loved out there,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n

Trump spoke as Democratic presidential candidates debated in Houston. The audience laughed as he mocked some of his top challengers and claimed that more people would be watching him. \u201cThey should be watching the debate but they’re probably watching this,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Police blocked off a wide perimeter around the hotel. But a few blocks away, demonstrators inflated a giant rat carrying a cellphone and adorned with yellow hair and a red tie to make clear their mocking intentions. Protesters waved signs with messages like \u201cTrump and the GOP are the real rats\u201d and \u201cWelcome rat king.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether the president should apologize for his Baltimore comments, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Trump \u201cmade a very good case why many major cities have challenges.\u201d He said the president’s trip \u201csymbolizes that, yes, he cares about Baltimore,\u201d adding that Trump is working to give people in poverty \u201ca better opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jennifer Amann, who lives in Fells Point, not far from the hotel where Trump was speaking, laughed when told that McCarthy said Trump’s visit demonstrates that he cares about the city and its residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t need visits, we need policies that help the people,\u201d Amann, who moved to Baltimore 16 years ago, said of Trump and Republican lawmakers. \u201cThe proof’s in the pudding and they don’t do anything to support this city.\u201d<\/p>\n

On an adjacent corner, a smaller yet vocal group of Trump supporters gathered, and the two groups engaged in an extended back-and-forth.<\/p>\n

Joe Murphy, of Owings Mills, Maryland, called the Trump protesters \u201cso un-American and disgusting.\u201d He said Trump was not a racist.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s here today to talk about opportunity zones, where he’s going to clean up the most disgusting parts of this city \u2014 and I’ve lived here all my life and there are a lot of disgusting parts,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat do you guys have against that?\u201d<\/p>\n

The GOP retreat was scheduled for Baltimore before Trump got into his spat with Cummings.<\/p>\n

After Trump’s verbal broadsides, Cummings invited the president to join him on a tour of his district, from the poorest parts of Baltimore to more well-to-do areas in suburban Baltimore and Howard counties.<\/p>\n

Trump has not backed away from his charges that Democratic leaders are responsible for the ills of America’s biggest cities. But for now, he’s making the argument in a less personal and less hostile manner. He’s also trying to win over blacks and Hispanics by citing employment gains they have made during his tenure.<\/p>\n

Baltimore, a once-gilded American seaport, has undeniable drug and violent crime challenges. The city saw more than 300 homicides in 2018 for the fourth year in a row. It also contends with deep-rooted poverty and swaths of the city are populated with vacant, boarded-up homes.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Associated Press Matthew Daly and Regina Garcia Cano in Baltimore contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BALTIMORE \u2014 President Donald Trump sought to boost the spirits of Republican lawmakers Thursday, mocking Democrats and promising a new …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":200486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-kevin-freking","mauthors-juana-summers","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230790,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230788\/revisions\/230790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}