World News: OnPolitics: Trump vs. everybody

FROM WASHINGTON AND BEYOND

Friday, August 16

President Donald Trump walks towards Air Force One in Morristown, N.J., Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019.

Migrants. Endangered animals. A CNN host. Trump put himself at odds with them all.

It's President Donald Trump vs. immigrants, endangered species, a CNN host, Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the Clintons and the British territory of Gibraltar. Let's get into it.

The president put himself at odds with seemingly everyone this week as he sought to ward off impoverished migrants, cull protections for animals and push Israel into banning two of his political rivals. Meanwhile, 2020 Democrats blasted Trump for trying to link former President Bill Clinton to the death of alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Let's recap: Trump started his week in hot water after re-tweeting a no-evidence conspiracy theory about Bill Clinton following Epstein's death on Saturday. "We know who did this," the tweet said, claiming "#JefferyEpstein had information on Bill Clinton & now he's dead." While Trump's 2020 rivals blasted him for the tweet, the husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway put it thusly: "The President of the United States is a nut job." Then, on Monday, Trump's administration nixed blanket protections of the Endangered Species Act, which environmentalists say will push more animals and plants to extinction. That same day, Trump's team put out a new rule that would deny green cards to migrants if officials think they'll need food stamps. On Tuesday, Trump called CNN host Chris Cuomo an "out of control animal" and "nuts" over an NSFW rant. Then, on Thursday, Israel heeded Trump's counsel to bar Omar and Tlaib - two minority "Squad" congresswomen whom Trump has targeted in recent weeks. Then, also on Thursday, Gibraltar freed an Iranian oil supertanker that the United States had really wanted to seize. (Trump's Justice department did not respond to comment.)

2020 Dems blast Steve King's 'rape and incest' take

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) speaks during a town hall meeting at the Ericson Public Library on August 13, 2019 in Boone, Iowa.

Joshua Lott, Getty Images

U.S. Rep. Steve King this week declared that the world's population may not currently exist if not for rape and incest. "What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape or incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?" he told Iowans on Wednesday, defending his no abortion exemption for rape and incest.

Blowback within King's GOP and from 2020 Dems was swift: Cory Booker called King's words "hateful" and "insulting." Julián Castro said King "embarrassed himself." Criticism of King's words from Kirsten Gillibrand ("a disgrace"), Amy Klobuchar ("reprehensible") and Bernie Sanders ("misogynist") followed.

King's known for making offensive and controversial remarks. Here's why Iowans keep re-electing him.

This week in Trump

•	A gunman who wounded six officers in Philadelphia "should never have been allowed to be on the streets," Trump said.
•	Trump floated a meeting with China's Xi Jinping over trade and Hong Kong.
•	America's 'give me your tired, your poor' line applies mostly to Europeans, Trump's immigration official said
•	More than 260,000 people have petitioned to rename a street in front of Trump Tower after former President Barack Obama.
•	Trump's former campaign manager was subpoenaed by a House panel.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019.

Susan Walsh, AP

This week in 2020 Dems

•	John Hickenlooper officially dropped out of the 2020 presidential race on Thursday.
•	Billionaire Tom Steyer reached the donor threshold for September debates.
•	Tulsi Gabbard will report for active duty with the Hawaii Army National Guard for two weeks.
•	White nationalists could have firearms taken away under a red flag law proposed by Kamala Harris.
•	Vegan at the Iowa State Fair? Booker tracked down fried PB&J on a stick.
•	The Houston Chronicle called on Beto O'Rourke to end his presidential bid and run for Senate.
•	Cardi B to Sanders: "What are we going to do about wages in America?"
•	Pete Buttigieg released a new policy focused on uplifting rural America.

Thanks, OnPolitics friends. Uplift the rural America within your own hearts this week. - Josh Hafner

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Democratic presidential candidate South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg takes a selfie with visitors at the Iowa State Fair, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa.

John Locher, AP