“Putin announced last month that Russia would expel 755 U.S. diplomats and technical personnel from the country in response to new sanctions imposed by Congress intended to punish Russia for its interference in the 2016 election. The bill passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, and Trump signed it in into law, though he did so while calling it "seriously flawed" and attaching a signing statement that detailed what he deemed its ‘unconstitutional provisions.’”
“I'm very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll," Trump told reporters at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club.
"There's no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we've been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We're going to save a lot of money."
Trump's fiscal year 2018 budget proposed cutting the State Department budget by 29 percent.
“If Trump was joking, it was in poor taste. If he was serious, he’s disrespecting women and men who have dedicated their working lives to the security of America,” -- Robert Reich
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U.S. President Donald Trump
speaks to reporters
after a security briefing with
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster
and Vice President Mike Pence?
Reuters Jonathan Ernst
|
By Jessica Taylor
