Latest news with #Gingrich
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump's ‘triumph': Newt Gringrich selective spins in new book praising president
Over 280 pages, Newt Gingrich, House speaker turned Republican presidential hopeful turned prolific author of historical (and critics would say political) fantasy, goes all out to flatter the man in the Oval Office. 'President Trump's reelection was the triumph of a man and a movement,' Gingrich writes. 'Each needed the other if America was to be saved.' More to the point, perhaps, a second Trump term enabled a second ambassadorial gig for Callista Gingrich, Newt's third wife. Emissary to the Vatican in Trump's first term, she is on her way to being envoy to Switzerland. Newt also slobbers over Elon Musk: the world's richest person turned chainsaw-wielding enemy of the federal government, turned embittered Trumpworld exile. 'Musk is in many ways the Christopher Columbus of our time,' Gingrich writes. Gingrich might have been better advised to compare Musk to Tony Stark, alter ego of Iron Man. The Gingrich family brokerage account may be talking, too. A recent filing by Callista Gingrich with the office of government ethics reveals between $1m and $5m in Tesla stock. Then again, Musk has emerged bruised, literally sporting a black eye. According to the New York Times, the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire ingested ketamine and other drugs while wreaking havoc and ruining lives as a special government employee. Not that special, either: Musk's so-called 'department of government efficiency' failed to significantly reduce government spending. Musk arrived in DC vowing to slash $2tn, then left $1.86tn short of the mark. 'Was it all bullshit?' Trump openly asked. Musk quickly returned the favor. Mincing no words, he branded Trump's beloved 'big, beautiful bill' a 'disgusting abomination'. Quickie political tomes, ripe for airport bookstands, are dashed out fast by design. Apparently, Gingrich didn't bet on Musk's lame exit or his trashing Trump. Like most such books, Trump's Triumph contains score-settling, too. Gingrich has plenty outstanding. Nearly 40 years ago, as the Republican House whip, he clashed with George HW Bush, hammering the 41st president for breaking his pledge of 'no new taxes'. Later, in 2012, Gingrich badly lost the Republican nomination to Mitt Romney. During that run, news of profligacy exploded. The Gingriches maintained a credit line between $500,000 and $1m at Tiffany's, the New York jeweler. Barack Obama 'would have Newt for breakfast … at Tiffany's', a Romney spokesperson said. If Trump's Triumph is any guide, Gingrich has failed, or never tried, to conquer his resentment of such establishment figures. 'We were for fundamental change within the GOP and had taken on the Gerald Ford-Bush family-Mitt Romney accommodationist wing of the Republican party,' he crows, of the Trump takeover. But unpaid debts linger. Literally. In a 2014 filing with the Federal Election Commission, Newt 2012 debts exceed $4.652m. More than a decade later, the campaign's latest filing puts the figure at $4.637m. Debt be damned. Gingrich would rather claim credit. 'Early on,' he writes, Trump 'decisively sided with the legacies of Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and, frankly, myself'. There is faux nostalgia, too: 'In the fall of 1996, President Bill Clinton and I were planning major bipartisan reforms for Medicare and Social Security. The Monica Lewinsky scandal exploded and destroyed everything … Neither of us could have possibly ignored or downplayed it without facing severe political consequences.' For the record, Gingrich led an impeachment that failed. After details of his own affair emerged, he left Congress. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'I'm willing to lead but I'm not willing to preside over people who are cannibals,' he complained of his Republican colleagues. Trump's Triumph does not discuss how, in 1988, Gingrich filed an ethics complaint against Jim Wright, then Democratic speaker who resigned rather than face the music. The wheel turned. In 1997, the House ethics committee recommended Gingrich be reprimanded, and he was fined $300,000. The House adopted the ethics report by a vote of 395-28, making him the first speaker so admonished. Nowadays, Gingrich is more eager to stay on the right side of the powers that be. But he and Trump are not always on the same page. Differences emerge on Iran and immigration. In 2012, Gingrich received $20m in campaign donations from Sheldon Adelson, the late casino magnate who wanted to nuke Tehran. Gingrich still wants regime change. 'We need a strategy that helps the Iranian people take their own country back from a dictatorship that has trapped, imprisoned, and impoverished them,' he writes. 'We still have no strategy except accommodation and diplomacy with a regime we assume is unchangeable. This must change.' Trump has other ideas. 'I would like to see Iran be very successful,' he said last October. 'The only thing is, they can't have a nuclear weapon.' In office, he pursues a nuclear deal – to replace the one he trashed first time round. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium by half since February. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Gingrich chivvies Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff: 'There's a real danger of the Trump envoys being talked into a pretty foolish deal that's not enforceable.' On immigration, Gingrich praises the legal kind as a 'powerful source of economic and technological growth'. Legal immigrants, he writes, help 'make America wealthier and more technologically advanced'. In the real world, the Trump administration works to restrict foreign students. True to form, Gingrich also tries to go big, gazing back toward Rome and the American revolution. He's a historian by training, after all. 'The Founding Fathers sought to protect freedom by inventing a machine so complex and divided against itself that no dictator could force it to work quickly,' Gingrich writes. Yet he opposes anyone standing in Trump's path, as many courts are doing. 'I think in Trump's sense, he really does believe God wants him to make America great again,' Gingrich writes. 'And if that means you take on Harvard, or you take on the courts, or you take on the bureaucracy or whatever, that's what he's going to do.' The divine right of Trump? Caesar will approve. Trump's Triumph is published in the US by Hachette
The Hill
24-05-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Gingrich presses Senate GOP to advance Trump agenda: ‘Keep moving'
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) pressed Senate Republicans to advance President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' which the House passed earlier this week. Gingrich said that GOP senators have 'every right' to formulate their version of the president's mega bill, but if they care about the United States economy and their constituents, they will eventually vote to pass it through the upper chamber and get it to Trump's desk for signing. 'It blocks a huge tax increase, it creates much better regulatory environment. It takes out a great deal of the waste in government. It's not perfect. Look. We balanced the budget for four straight years for the only time in the last century, but we didn't do it overnight. We didn't do it the first or second year,' Gingrich said during his Friday night appearance on Fox News' 'Jesse Waters Primetime.' 'You have to chip away at these things. Get the best you can plan to come back again next year or come back this fall on the appropriations bills, but keep moving,' the former House speaker told guest host Kayleigh McEnany. Some Republican senators have already flagged portions of the bill they wish to alter, including Medicaid reforms and expressed concerns that the 1,116-page bill, which the House passed Thursday morning, does not have big enough spending cuts to rein in spending. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), both fiscal hawks, have said that currently they are opposed to voting for the legislation. 'There should be a goal of this Republican Senate budget resolution to reduce the deficit, not increase it. We're increasing it. It's a nonstarter from my standpoint,' Johnson said this week. The Congressional Budget Office said the legislation would add $3.8 trillion to the debt. Johnson said there are 'at least' four senators in the GOP conference who would currently vote against the bill if deeper spending cuts are not instituted. Another group of GOP senators have expressed concern about the Medicaid reforms that would cut benefits. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she is 'very worried' about reductions in federal Medicaid funding to states that will amp up pressure on rural hospitals. Others, such as Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) want to tighten up the availability of Medicaid for able-bodied adults. 'Medicaid ought to go back and do what it was set up to do. It was set up to take care of poor children and the chronically ill, and that's what the focus should be,' Scott said. House Republicans warned Senate Republicans against significantly watering down the massive bill. They are open to the Senate enacting some changes, particularly if more spending cuts are installed and senators work on reducing the deficit, but are looking to keep the phase-out of green-energy subsidies and revised Medicaid requirements. 'And I encouraged our Senate colleagues to think of this as a one-team effort, as we have, and to modify this as little as possible, because it will make it easier for us to get it over the line, ultimately, and finished and get it to the president's desk by July 4,' Speaker Mike Johson (R-La.) said Tuesday after meeting with Senate Republicans. Gingrich advised senators that after they are done amending and arguing about the bill, they should vote for its passing 'because to vote no is voting for a giant tax increase.' 'It's voting to cripple the government. It's voting to make it very difficult for President Trump to create the kind of America that he was voted to create,' the ex-House speaker added. 'And frankly, it goes against the wishes of virtually every Republican who put the senators in office.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gingrich praises Trump for extending olive branch to Syria
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) touted President Trump's efforts to thaw tensions with the new government in Syria, describing the move as strategically savvy, though risky. 'When the Crown Prince [of Saudi Arabia] and the president of Turkey both asked him [Trump] to give Syria, the new Syrian government, a chance, he intuitively just said, 'Sure,'' Gingrich told hosts John Catsimatidis & Rita Cosby on the 'Cats & Cosby Show' on Wednesday. Gingrich, the longtime Republican leader, noted that other presidential teams would have taken months to arrive at the same conclusion, bringing in 'so-called experts' to advise the commander-in-chief to be careful, while arriving at the same conclusion. 'Trump knows he's taking a gamble. He knows the guy he's dealing with as the head of Syria was a terrorist — is still on the terrorist list — and he knows that it's a gamble. What he's also saying to Turkey and to Saudi Arabia, you know, 'I'm going to do my part. Now you guys have got to step in here and clean this act up.'' Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a day after he announced he would roll back sanctions on Syria at the urging of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The sanctions had been imposed against the former Bashar Assad regime amid a brutal civil war, which came to a head late last year when Syrian rebels drove out the Assad government. 'Oh, what I do for the crown prince,' Trump said with a laugh Monday. 'The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important function … but now it's [Syria's] time to shine.' Gingrich said Trump's efforts in Syria are strategically impressive, saying they serve to further isolate Iran and Russia, which had backed Syria's government in the war. '[Trump] also understands that a Syria which is now relating to America, further isolates Iran, because Syria was the last major ally that Iran had,' Gingrich said. 'It also, frankly, undermines Putin, because the Russians have made a major investment in Syria.' 'And so, in this one step, he strengthens his ties to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He isolates Iran. And he eliminates Russia from that part of the world,' Gingrich continued. Gingrich attributed the strategy to Trump's instincts. 'Now that's a pretty remarkable— and I'm sure it was spur-of-the-moment, I'm sure, because that's how Trump operates. He has greater faith in his own instincts than in the so-called professionals who have not done a very good job in the Middle East.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Gingrich praises Trump for extending olive branch to Syria
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) touted President Trump's efforts to thaw tensions with the new government in Syria, describing the move as strategically savvy, though risky. 'When the Crown Prince [of Saudi Arabia] and the president of Turkey both asked him [Trump] to give Syria, the new Syrian government, a chance, he intuitively just said, 'Sure,'' Gingrich told hosts John Catsimatidis & Rita Cosby on the 'Cats & Cosby Show' on Wednesday. Gingrich, the longtime Republican leader, noted that other presidential teams would have taken months to arrive at the same conclusion, bringing in 'so-called experts' to advise the commander-in-chief to be careful, while arriving at the same conclusion. 'Trump knows he's taking a gamble. He knows the guy he's dealing with as the head of Syria was a terrorist — is still on the terrorist list — and he knows that it's a gamble. What he's also saying to Turkey and to Saudi Arabia, you know, 'I'm going to do my part. Now you guys have got to step in here and clean this act up.'' Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a day after he announced he would roll back sanctions on Syria at the urging of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The sanctions had been imposed against the former Bashar Assad regime amid a brutal civil war, which came to a head late last year when Syrian rebels drove out the Assad government. 'Oh, what I do for the crown prince,' Trump said with a laugh Monday. 'The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important function … but now it's [Syria's] time to shine.' Gingrich said Trump's efforts in Syria are strategically impressive, saying they serve to further isolate Iran and Russia, which had backed Syria's government in the war. '[Trump] also understands that a Syria which is now relating to America, further isolates Iran, because Syria was the last major ally that Iran had,' Gingrich said. 'It also, frankly, undermines Putin, because the Russians have made a major investment in Syria.' 'And so, in this one step, he strengthens his ties to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He isolates Iran. And he eliminates Russia from that part of the world,' Gingrich continued. Gingrich attributed the strategy to Trump's instincts. 'Now that's a pretty remarkable— and I'm sure it was spur-of-the-moment, I'm sure, because that's how Trump operates. He has greater faith in his own instincts than in the so-called professionals who have not done a very good job in the Middle East.'
09-05-2025
- Business
Trump revives, then discards, then revives again the idea of taxing the rich in big GOP bill
WASHINGTON -- After musing publicly and privately with the idea of raising the top tax rate for wealthy millionaires as Republicans draft his big bill in Congress, President Donald Trump early Friday backed off that call — sort of. Trump posted on social media that hiking taxes on anyone, even the rich, could stir a political backlash, reviving the 'Read my lips: No new taxes' warnings of the Bush-era that helped topple a president. The post came days after he floated the idea of higher taxes on those single filers earning $2.5 million and above. But this time, the president, didn't completely discourage GOP lawmakers from pursuing that option as they rush to finish their massive tax breaks and spending cuts package this weekend. 'The problem with even a 'TINY' tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, 'Read my lips,'' Trump wrote. 'In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I'm OK if they do!!!' Trump wrote Friday. The last ditch-push by the president comes as Republicans are laboring to push his 'big, beautiful bill' toward public hearings next week, on track for a House vote by Memorial Day. Divisions run strong in the party, and the president's on-again, off-again push for millionaires taxes complicates the outcome. Over the past months, Trump has repeatedly brought up the idea of imposing a higher rate for millionaires and the president revived his request in private talks. Trump told Speaker Mike Johnson again this week he wants to see a higher rate on the wealthy in the big bill coming from Congress, according to a person familiar with the conversations and granted anonymity to discuss the private talks. The president sees higher taxes on millionaires as a way to clip the argument coming from Democrats that the GOP's big tax package only benefits his wealthy friends, including billionaire Elon Musk, the person said. Thanks to Trump's 2017 tax cuts bill, the top rate is now a 37% bracket that expires at the end of the year. That rate is for incomes beyond about $600,000 for single filers. Trump would like to see that rate expire, reverting back to 39.6%, or 40%. This week Trump pitched top rate on incomes of around $2.5 million for individuals and $5 million for couples. The debate over millionaires has been raging with a robust collection of anti-tax activists led by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist at Americans for Tax Reform and others working vigorously to prevent any tax hikes. Trump appeared Friday to have again heeded the message from Gingrich, who has warned that George H.W. Bush during the 1988 presidential campaign pledged to not to implement any new taxes as president. Bush then faced an onslaught of criticism during his unsuccessful 1992 reelection campaign for breaking that promise. Trump posted a few weeks ago that Gingrich was correct. But on Friday the president said independent candidate Ross Perot had caused Bush's loss that year. As the conversations swirl in public and private, they keep coming back to Trump's own politically-populist instincts, touching off the GOP divide. 'I'm not excited about the proposal, but I have to say, there are a number of people in both the house and the Senate who are,' said Sen. Mike Crapo, the GOP chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said earlier this week on the Hugh Hewitt show, 'and if the President weighs in in favor of it, then that's going to be a big factor that we have to take into consideration as well.'
