ET Williams

The Doctor of Common Sense

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NAACP Boycotts North Carolina Over No Penises Being Allowed In Women’s Restroom

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The NAACP urged religious conferences, athletic events and musicians on Friday to avoid North Carolina as part of a national boycott protesting the state’s conservative policies including a law limiting LGBT protections.

It was the first step in a national boycott that could expand to include other economic and tourism measures, according to a resolution approved by the group’s national board. The organization stopped short of telling its members to cease all travel and spending in the state — which has been a component of previous boycotts elsewhere.

 

“Right now in the state of North Carolina we have children — Dear God, children! — who are being imperiled, who face the prospect of being bullied as a consequence of politicians using them as political pawns while we talk about bathrooms,” said the NAACP’s national president Cornell Brooks.

His comments come two days after Republican President Donald Trump’s administration rescinded federal guidance that public schools nationwide should allow transgender students to use restrooms that match their gender identity.

 

The Rev. William Barber, who leads the state’s NAACP chapter, proposed the boycott late last year after a deal fell apart to repeal the North Carolina law known best for requiring transgender people to use restrooms in many public buildings corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate. The law, often referred to as House Bill 2, also excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide antidiscrimination protections.

 

But Barber stressed the boycott would also pressure the Republican-controlled legislature over efforts to limit the new Democratic governor’s power as well as ongoing legal battles over voting rights and how electoral districts are drawn.

“What has happened in North Carolina makes this state a battleground … for the soul of America,” said Barber, who has drawn thousands to rallies protesting conservative policies in recent years.

The NAACP was part of a coalition that successfully sued to overturn much of a 2013 North Carolina elections law requiring photo ID from voters who cast ballots in person. A federal appeals court said it disproportionately targeted black voters. Republicans have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Republican Senate leader Phil Berger called on Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to “condemn William Barber’s attempt to inflict economic harm on our citizens, and work toward a reasonable compromise that keeps men out of women’s bathrooms.”

 

Asked about the boycott, Cooper’s spokesman Ford Porter said in an email: “While Governor Cooper continues to urge business to come to North Carolina in spite of HB2, Republican legislative leaders need to stop holding our economy hostage to this disastrous law.”

The NAACP’s boycott resolution says the group won’t hold future national meetings in North Carolina and urged other groups to take their business elsewhere, too. The resolution says the organization could take other steps, such as urging the divestiture of North Carolina-related investments.

Brooks declined to offer further specifics or a timetable for deciding on whether to escalate the effort, but suggested the group’s previous boycotts could serve as a model.

The NAACP boycotted South Carolina for 15 years over flying the Confederate battle flag on Statehouse grounds. When that boycott was approved, the group urged all of its members nationwide to avoid visiting or spending money in the state. The flag was removed in 2015.

Already, House Bill 2 has caused numerous conventions, concerts and sporting events to pull out of North Carolina, depriving it of hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact. The state also lost several large-scale business projects with hundreds of jobs because of the law.

The NAACP’s announcement comes as Charlotte hosts scores of students and alumni from historically black colleges and universities as part of the men’s and women’s CIAA basketball tournaments. The conference has moved other athletic events from the state, but said late last year that time constraints and contractual obligations made it too difficult to move the basketball games. The CIAA’s basketball tournaments brought an estimated $56 million to the city in 2015, according to local tourism officials.

 

http://www.argus-press.com/news/state_news/article_a5b9c0c9-fe9c-5ec0-90e2-2f929efcfdd8.html

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A Push for an Upgrade on U.S. Aircraft

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — Embracing a stronger defense, President Donald Trump is meeting with sailors and shipbuilders on an aircraft carrier in Virginia as he promotes his plans for a major military buildup.

Trump traveled Thursday to Newport News to deliver a speech aboard the Gerald R. Ford, a $12.9 billion warship that is expected to be commissioned this year after cost overruns and delays. Wearing a red USA cap, Trump saluted sailors as he arrived on the carrier.

During his trip there, Trump was joined aboard Air Force One by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

A draft budget plan released earlier this week by the White House would add $54 billion to the Pentagon’s projected budget, a 10 percent increase.

“To keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war,” Trump said in his address to Congress on Tuesday night.

Trump, in his 2016 campaign, repeatedly pledged to rebuild what he called the nation’s “depleted” military and told supporters at Regent University in Virginia Beach in October that the region’s naval installations would be “right at the center of the action with the building of new ships.”

He often argued that the U.S. military is too small to accomplish its missions and pledged to put the Navy on track to increase its active-duty fleet to 350 ships, compared to the current Navy plan of growing from 272 ships to 308 sometime after 2020.

The PCU Gerald R. Ford CVN 78, located at Newport News Shipbuilding, will be the first of the Navy’s next generation of aircraft carriers and is expected to accommodate some 2,600 sailors.

Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress, his first as president, included his past calls for repealing the “defense sequester,” or across-the-board budget cuts instituted by Congress. He will need the repeal to achieve the kinds of increased defense spending that he is seeking.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRUMP_NAVY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-03-02-11-41-57

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“Great News” There Is A Coal Mining Revival

Wise County, Virginia –  A long-awaited revival is under way in this beleaguered Central Appalachia community where residents see coal as the once and future king.

Trucks are running again. Miners working seven days a week cannot keep up with current demand. Coal mines, long dormant after the industry’s collapse, are now buzzing again with antlike activity.

“We load coal every day for the power plant in Virginia City,” explained Rick, a long-time supervisor for a major local operation who did not want to give his last name. “There’s one shipment a week for Georgia Power, and one for Tennessee Eastman.”

The past month has seen a resurgence of the coal industry that once formed the backbone of the region’s economy, and locals credit President Trump’s aggressive, pro-energy agenda.

Crippled by a slew of factors, from changing times, an emphasis on renewable energy, and the Obama administration’s harsh penalties on coal-fired power plants, the area’s economy took a devastating hit over the past eight years. Many of the people living in these mountains had nearly given up hope that the area could ever recover.

The smaller communities in this county in southwest Virginia, such as the towns of Appalachia, Pound and St. Paul, were the hardest hit, but the ripple effects were felt far and wide.

Prospects changed nearly overnight. President Trump had promised to do everything he could to lift the coal mining industry. Trump began to make good on his pledge last month when he eliminated the Stream Protection Rule, which had placed layers of regulations on the industry.

Although it will take a while before the coal industry recovers, the metallurgical or “met coal” markets – coal used to make steel – are already seeing a major upswing. The price for met coal is twice as high as it was a year ago, which is causing a boom in the coalfields.

The turnaround owes to more than just Trump. China cut its own production, which helps lift the met industry in the United States. But, many in this area say, Trump’s moves to lift regulations are stoking a rally they have not seen in years.

Ramasco Resources began producing its first coal mine in December and said it would open two more this year. In Pennsylvania, Corsa Coal also announced this month that it would begin mining operations beginning in May, according to Bloomberg.

“There’s definitely cautious optimism after years of being brutally beaten down,” Jeremy Sussman, an analyst at Clarksons Platou Securities Inc., told Bloomberg.

TRUMP OVERTURNS BILL ON COAL MINING DEBRIS

Coal mines, long dormant after the industry’s collapse, are now buzzing again with antlike activity.(Johnny Giles)

The production of coal reached its peak in 2008. But then President Obama came into office and rolled out a series of regulations that he said were designed to protect America’s streams and waterways from the pollution the mining emitted.

Those regulations crippled the industry and left many in the region out of well-paying jobs.

For those whose livelihood depended on the industry, the most important thing that Trump has given them is hope.

“It was almost impossible due to the EPA regulations to open another deep mine,” said Rick.

Just a few decades ago, when unions were strong in Wise County, the area leaned Democrat. But once the economy bottomed out and many were left without jobs, this corner of Virginia found itself feeling left behind.

Nowadays, many homes in Wise County are adorned with Trump signs. This now-Republican stronghold is betting on a better future under the Trump administration.

“It’s a slow thing,” said Adam, a mining equipment operator in the area who also did not want to give his last name. “It’s not going to be immediate, but there’s definitely some optimism right now.”

It’s too early to tell whether or not coal will be king again. But with the stranglehold of regulations now on its way out, many in the area say they hope to see a full comeback.

“I don’t think production is going to go down anytime soon,” said Jason, an underground miner from Big Stone Gap. “At one of the mines in the town of Appalachia, [employees] were told they would have work for the next four years.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/01/coal-mining-begins-seeing-revival-as-trump-gives-industry-hope.html

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The WH Speaks On North Korea and the use of America’s Military Force

John Mattis and Han Min-Koo of South Korea

An internal White House review of strategy on North Korea includes the possibility of military force or regime change to blunt the country’s nuclear-weapons threat, people familiar with the process said, a prospect that has some U.S. allies in the region on edge.

While President Donald Trump has taken steps to reassure allies that he won’t abandon agreements that have underpinned decades of U.S. policy on Asia, his pledge that Pyongyang would be stopped from ever testing an intercontinental ballistic missile—coupled with the two-week-old strategy review—has some leaders bracing for a shift in American policy.

The U.S. review comes as recent events have strained regional stability. Last month, North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, and the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was killed in Malaysia.

Chinese and North Korean officials are holding talks in Beijing, the first known high-level meeting in nearly a year, and Beijing recently curtailed coal imports from North Korea.

U.S. officials have underscored the possible military dimensions of their emerging strategy in recent discussions with allies, according to people familiar with the talks.

During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s two-day summit in February with Mr. Trump, U.S. officials on several occasions stated that all options were under consideration to deal with North Korea, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

It was clear to the Japanese side that those options encompassed a U.S. military strike on North Korea, possibly if Pyongyang appeared ready to test an ICBM, this person said. The Japanese side found that scenario “worrisome,” he said.

U.S. allies in recent years have closely aligned with Washington in trying to increase diplomatic and economic pressure on Pyongyang in an effort to force it to drop its nuclear program. But the new U.S. policy review has generated anxiety in Japan and South Korea about a radical shift. After North Korea said this year it was ready to test an ICBM, Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter, “It won’t happen!”

About two weeks ago, deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland convened a meeting with national security officials across the government and asked them for proposals on North Korea, including ideas that one official described as well outside the mainstream.

The request was for all options, ranging from U.S. recognition of North Korea as a nuclear state to military action against Pyongyang. Ms. McFarland’s directive was for the administration to undergo a comprehensive rethink of America’s North Korea policy.

The national security officials reported back to Ms. McFarland with their ideas and suggestions on Tuesday. Those options now will undergo a process under which they will be refined and shaped before they are given to the president for consideration.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won’t happen!

26,75626,756 Retweets  93,44693,446 likes

The heightened prospect of U.S. military action in North Korea could encourage China, which fears the fallout of a military confrontation with its neighbor, to take steps Washington has long sought to choke off Pyongyang’s economic lifeline.

In the wake of Mr. Trump’s election, leaders in Tokyo and Seoul have sought to intensify the existing U.S. strategy of exerting economic and diplomatic pressure against North Korea.

“We will make sure that the North changes its erroneous calculations by further enhancing sanctions and pressure,” South Korea’s acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn said in a speech Wednesday.

South Korea and the U.S. kicked off major annual military exercises Wednesday, part of a long-running strategy of prioritizing defensive military preparedness to ward off North Korean aggression.

After North Korea tested a ballistic missile last month just as Messrs. Abe and Trump were meeting in Florida, the Japanese leader called for Pyongyang to comply with a United Nations ban on such tests and said Tokyo and Washington would strengthen their alliance.

In his own brief remarks after Mr. Abe, Mr. Trump didn’t mention North Korea, saying only that the U.S. “stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100%.”

Japan is concerned it could get sucked into a regional conflict by a U.S. military strike on North Korea, said Tetsuo Kotani, a senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, a Tokyo think tank.

Another fear for Japan is a scenario in which the U.S. instead holds talks with North Korea and reaches a deal that would lead to Washington disengaging from the region, he said.

Under its pacifist constitution, Japan remains heavily dependent on U.S. military support, not only to counter North Korea, but also China, which has stepped up a territorial challenge against Japanese-administered islands in the East China Sea.

“Direct talks between Mr. Trump and Kim Jong Un would be a nightmare scenario for Japan,” Mr. Kotani said.

Last month, the State Department withdrew visa approvals for top North Korean officials to visit New York for unofficial talks with retired U.S. officials following the killing of Mr. Kim’s half brother, according to people familiar with the matter, dealing a setback to any attempt at rapprochement.

Mr. Trump has recently stated the U.S.’s commitment to defending both Japan and South Korea to leaders of both countries. A spokeswoman for Japan’s foreign ministry declined to comment on the details of Mr. Abe’s talks with Mr. Trump, while a spokesman for South Korea’s foreign ministry couldn’t be reached for comment.

As annual military exercises were set to begin, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke Tuesday to South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo, emphasizing that “any attack on the United States or its allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a response that is effective and overwhelming,” said Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis.

The U.S. is in the process of installing advanced missile defenses, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, in South Korea. As part of that, South Korea said this week that it has completed a transfer of land needed as a station for the system, Capt. Davis said.

Despite concerns about a military confrontation between the U.S. and North Korea, the acceleration of Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile program has emboldened calls by military hawks in Japan and South Korea for capabilities to pre-emptively hit North Korean military facilities if an attack appears imminent.

Masahiko Komura, the vice president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said recently that Japan should begin discussing whether to acquire such an ability. In parliament, Mr. Abe said there were no plans to do so.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-explores-options-including-use-of-military-force-to-counter-north-korean-threat-1488407444

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Oprah Winfrey Says Trump Has Inspired Her To Be President

I can screw it up just like Obama did.

President Winfrey? Oprah says in the age of Trump that she could run for the White House despite being unqualified for the job

  • Oprah said she had never thought about possibly being president until Donald Trump won the job
  • She believed she was unqualified and didn’t have enough raw knowledge
  • ‘And now I’m thinking, “Oh! Oh!” she said’
  • Oprah would be the first woman president if she were to leverage her near-universal name ID to match Trump’s political lightning moment
  • She already built a successful broadcasting career on unlikely triumphs, including a ratings war that saw her beat legendary interviewer Phil Donahue

 

The improbable political rise of Donald Trump has led Oprah Winfrey to think about whether or not she could become the second TV entertainer to work in the Oval Office.

Oprah told Bloomberg interviewer David Rubenstein that before Trump won the November election, she thought she was unqualified to be president.

But not anymore.

‘I actually never thought that that was – I never considered the question, even a possibility,’ she said.

But when reality-show icon Trump beat longtime politician Hillary Clinton, she said, ‘I just thought, “Oh! Oh!”‘

‘I thought, “Oh, gee, I don’t have experience. I don’t know enough. I don’t.”

‘And now I’m thinking, “Oh! Oh!”‘

Oprah would be the first woman president if she were to leverage her near-universal name ID and nationwide support to match Trump’s political lightning moment.

She told Rubenstein, a famed philanthropist who interviews business leaders on his show, that she built her career on one unlikely triumph after another.

When she was hired to host ‘A. M. Chicago’ in 1984, she said, most of her friends predicted she would fail because her show competed with legendary interviewer Phil Donahue.

‘It didn’t matter to me, because I did not think that he was beatable,’ she recalled.

But ultimately, ‘I beat him. I did. I wasn’t trying to.’

If Oprah should run for president and win, she would gain one of the only pulic platforms bigger than the one she already enjoys.

Remember I Gave You These Shit-holes

Her lifestyle brand and ‘OWN’ cable TV network followed the 25-year run of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ and her starring role in the film ‘The Color Purple.’

Countless millions saw her on TV internationally.

Despite the ratings, she said the founding of a girls’ school in South Africa remains her proudest achievement.

But one famous friend warned her that her legacy could be about something unexpected.

‘I remember when I started the school,’ she recalled, ‘I said to my beloved friend Maya Angelou, I said: “Maya, I’m so, I’m just so proud that I was going to be able to create this school.” I said, “This is going to be my greatest legacy.”‘

‘And Maya said to me, “You have no idea. You have no idea what your legacy will be … because your legacy is every life you’ve touched”.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4269856/Oprah-says-age-Trump-run-president.html

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President Trump Gave A Great Speech Last Night

President Trump sought to repackage his hard-line campaign promises with a moderate sheen Tuesday night, declaring what he termed “a new chapter of American greatness” of economic renewal and military might in his first joint address to Congress.

Seeking to steady his presidency after a tumultuous first 40 days, Trump had an air of seriousness and revealed flashes of compassion as he broadly outlined a sweeping agenda to rebuild a country he described as ravaged by crime and drugs, deteriorating infrastructure and failing bureaucracies.

Trump’s 60-minute speech touched on his plans to overhaul the nation’s health-care system and tax code, but it was short on specifics and heavy on lofty prose. Struggling to steer a bitterly divided nation with his job-approval ratings at historic lows, Trump effectively pleaded with the American people to give him a chance and to imagine what could be achieved during his presidency.

“We are one people, with one destiny,” Trump said quietly near the end. “The time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us. We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts.”

Trump extended olive branches to his opponents. He called on Congress to pass paid family leave, a reference to a long-held Democratic Party priority that brought liberal lawmakers to their feet to applaud. And he pledged to work with Muslim allies to extinguish Islamic State terrorists, going so far as to acknowledge the killings of Muslims as well as Christians in the Middle East.

President Trump said his administration is working on “historic tax reform” during his first joint address to Congress on Feb. 28. “It will be a big, big cut. At the same time, we will provide massive tax relief to the middle class,” he said. (The Washington Post)

Still, Trump did not back away from his most controversial policies. He used typically bellicose language to describe the fight against the Islamic State, calling it “a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, women and children of all faiths and all beliefs.” He made a point to utter the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism,” which Republicans cheered heartily.

The president forcefully defended his travel ban of refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries — an executive order that was halted in federal court — as necessary to prevent the entry of foreigners who do not share America’s values.

“We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside America,” Trump said. “We cannot allow our nation to become a sanctuary for extremists.”

The president trumpeted his plans to budget a major increase in military spending. One of Trump’s fiercest Republican critics, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), stood enthusiastically when the president said he would end the “defense sequester” caps on Pentagon spending.

On foreign affairs, Trump said he would honor historic alliances — and explicitly stated his support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, on which he had wavered during his campaign — but said he would seek new ones as well, even with former adversaries. The latter seemed an indirect reference to potentially working to combat terrorism with Russia, which U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded meddled in the November election in hopes of helping Trump.

“America is willing to find new friends, and to forge new partnerships, where share interests align,” Trump said. “We want harmony and stability, not war and conflict.”

Trump declared the time had come to rewrite trade deals and alliances in terms that benefit the United States, irrespective of global pressures.

“My job is not to represent the world,” Trump said. “My job is to represent the United States of America.”

Trump was adamant that the United States cannot continue to abide by what Republicans and Democrats see as free trade. “It also has to be fair trade,” Trump said. He cited Abraham Lincoln, who, he said, “warned that the ‘abandonment of the protective policy by the American government [will] produce want and ruin among our people.’ ” He said he would not let workers “be taken advantage of anymore.”

As is tradition when the president addresses a joint session of Congress — typically known as a “State of the Union,” although the speech is not called that during a president’s first year — Trump invited guests to sit with first lady Melania Trump in the balcony.

The night’s emotional high point came when Trump singled out one of the night’s guests, Carryn Owens, the widow of Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, who died in a Jan. 29 raid in Yemen.

Although Ryan’s father has spoken out against the raid that killed his son, Trump said Tuesday night that Ryan died “a warrior and a hero,” with Carryn looking on with tears in her eyes. The audience stood with sustained applause. Trump peered up at Carryn and said, “Ryan is looking down right now. You know that. And he’s very happy.”

Trump, as he typically does, basked in his electoral feat and cast his ascent to the presidency in epic terms. “In 2016, the earth shifted beneath our feet,” he said, saying that a “rebellion” that started as “a quiet protest” morphed into “a loud chorus” and finally “an earthquake.”

He said he was sent to Washington to deliver on the promises he made on the campaign trail — arguably chief among them, to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Trump argued that everyday Americans cannot succeed “in an environment of lawless chaos” at the borders.

“To any in Congress who do not believe we should enforce our laws, I would ask you this one question: What would you say to the American family that loses their jobs, their income or their loved one, because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders?”

As he spoke, Trump turned toward Jamiel Shaw, a black man whose son was killed by an illegal immigrant. Shaw, who frequently traveled with Trump during last year’s campaign, sat stone-faced and then grew visibly emotional as Trump spoke to him and Shaw stood to applause.

On the seemingly in­trac­table issue of immigration, Trump signaled he would be open to a reform bill — though he did not state what terms he would find acceptable in such a compromise.

“I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: to improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nation’s security, and to restore respect for our laws,” Trump said. “If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens, then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades.”

Trump said he supports a “merit-based immigration system,” such as those in Canada and Australia, that allow people to enter the country who can support themselves financially and contribute to society.

Trump challenged both parties in Congress to move quickly to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the signature health-care law of former president Barack Obama.

“Obamacare is collapsing, and we must act decisively to protect all Americans,” Trump said. “Action is not a choice; it is a necessity.”

House Republicans immediately rallied behind Trump’s remarks, interpreting his words as an endorsement of several key parts of their own plan. In an email to reporters, an aide to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) wrote that Trump “embraced” the House plan and demonstrated that “the White House and Congress are coalescing around a particular approach” that includes individual health-savings plans and tax credits.

“The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we are going to do,” Trump said, calling for Democrats to work with him. He said he would “ensure that Americans with preexisting conditions have access to coverage and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the health care exchanges.”

Turning to the states, he said he would give governors “the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out,” a supportive mention of a program whose budget some Republicans would like to see pared back.

Trump also called for a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that he said would be the biggest program of national rebuilding since former president Dwight Eisenhower built the interstate highway system in the 1950s. Trump said his projects would be financed through a combination of public and private capital, but he offered no further details.

Trump was more somber than usual, toning down his bravado, but there were moments where he reveled in his celebrity. He glad-handed Supreme Court justices as he made his way to the rostrum and shared small talk with a reverential congressman, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.). As he left at the end of his speech, he paused to autograph books in the aisle.

An uncharacteristically disciplined Trump stuck mostly to the script running on his teleprompters, but he veered off his prepared text at times to make playful asides. During a discussion about taxes, Trump recalled his visit with Harley-Davidson executives and ad-libbed, “They wanted me to ride one and I said, ‘No, thank you.’ ”

Trump opened his address by noting the wave of anti-Semitic vandalism and threats targeting Jewish cemeteries, community centers and schools. “We are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms,” Trump said.

Trump plans to take his message to the American people on a traditional road show, like those his predecessors undertook to sell their agendas following major addresses to Congress.

On Thursday, Trump plans to give a speech aboard the USS Gerald Ford, a newly christened aircraft carrier in Newport News, Va., and lead a roundtable discussion with military officials and shipbuilders. And on Friday, he will visit St. Andrew’s Catholic School in Orlando to conduct what aides described as a listening session on school choice.

At a moment when more Americans oppose him than support him, Trump sought to sell the country on his vision for transformational change. He wanted people to imagine America on its 250th anniversary in 2026 following what he hopes will be a two-term presidency.

He said dying industries like coal would come roaring back to life, new roads and bridges would be built, and the drug epidemic would not just slow down, but stop.

“Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed,” Trump said. “Every problem can be solved. And every hurting family can find healing, and hope.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/trump-prepares-to-address-a-divided-audience-the-republican-congress/2017/02/28/183138ce-fced-11e6-8ebe-6e0dbe4f2bca_story.html?utm_term=.9352a795b572