The Fitness Magazine: Your Presidential Daily Brief: Trump's Tangled Web

IMPORTANT

May 20, 2017

Saudis welcome Donald Trump and the first lady in Riyadh, the first stop on the president's first foreign trip. Source: Getty

The President's Tangled Web

He has the right to remain silent. But that's not Donald Trump's nature, and this week the president couldn't restrain himself from issuing contradictory responses when faced with increasingly grave allegations. Each day, there's a new revelation of an incriminating-sounding utterance, as on Friday, when reports detailed the president telling visiting Russian officials that he'd just fired his "nut job" FBI director, thus relieving "great pressure" Trump faced. Add to that a string of other plot twists, and newly appointed special counsel Robert Mueller will have much to examine in what's now being called a criminal probe.

Sources: NYT, Reuters, McClatchy

Cost Estimate May Prompt New House Health Care Vote

Its condition is serious. The Republican replacement for Obamacare, the American Health Care Act, may be on life support. This month's slim House vote approving it happened before a Congressional Budget Office estimate - expected early next week - and its difficult-to-predict cost savings are what would enable its Senate passage. As House leadership frets over a new vote in the case of an unfavorable estimate, insurers are questioning the president's assertion that existing Obamacare deficiencies will bring about its demise, saying Trump's subsidy-denying policies will do the most damage.

Sources: CNN, NBC, LA Times

Reformist Iranian President Rouhani Wins Second Term

"We showed them that we still exist." So said one reformist voter in casting his ballot for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whom state television congratulated on his victory today. He won 22.8 million votes of 38.9 million cast in Friday's election. The incumbent now has another four years to fulfill pledges to reform the Islamic Republic's repressive government - whose unelected leaders vet all candidates - while stopping hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi. High turnout was seen to favor Rouhani, whose supporters, while disillusioned with reform efforts, nonetheless feared Raisi turning back the clock.

Sources: Reuters, Washington Post

Trump Begins First Foreign Trip in Arabia's Warm Embrace

It may be 106 degrees, but the heat's behind him. President Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia's capital today to a red-carpet-and-flyover welcome far from the increasingly hostile reception he's faced in Washington recently. After a warm introductory chat with Saudi King Salman, the commander-in-chief is to hold talks and sign agreements, including a $100 billion Saudi purchase of U.S. weaponry. Tomorrow, the leader who promised a Muslim immigration ban will again take the hot seat - with a speech urging the faithful to fight terrorism.

Sources: Reuters, ABC, Washington Post

Briefly

The Week Ahead: On Monday, Israel welcomes President Trump after he reportedly gave some of the Jewish state's sensitive anti-terrorism intel to Russian officials. On Thursday in Brussels, Trump will address NATO leaders, who are hoping for reassurance of continued U.S. support. That day, Star Wars fans observe the 40th anniversary of the sci-fi phenomenon's opening.

Know This: U.S. fighter jets escorted an American Airlines flight to Honolulu after a Turkish passenger reportedly attempted to access the cockpit - hours after being detained for allegedly trying to walk onto the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport. Russian officials bragged last year about their ability to influence Donald Trump through his adviser, Michael Flynn, according to intelligence sources. And ex-congressman Anthony Weiner has pleaded guilty in his election-rocking underage sexting case.

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INTRIGUING

The Slave Who Loved Me

Not every prison has bars. After immigrating to America, Alex Tizon's parents told neighbors that Lola, who cooked, cleaned and hid from guests, was a shy aunt. It wasn't until his father left and his mother died of cancer that Tizon faced reality: The diminutive woman who raised him was a slave - a "gift" from his grandfather in the Philippines. Tizon died in March, but not before the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist wrote Lola's story, sparking praise for his atonement and outrage over his complicity in a criminal institution that won't fade into history.

Sources: The Atlantic, Chicago Tribune

The University That Can't Reveal Its Location

They know where they stand. When Georgia officials banned undocumented students (there were only 29) from its top five public universities in 2010, they inadvertently fomented a movement. Volunteer-operated Freedom University, with its defiant "F.U. Georgia" nickname, is teaching students to question authority while applying to other colleges and protesting discriminatory admissions and tuition rules. The school's had to meet in secret because of white supremacist threats, and with arrests of immigrants on the rise under the new administration in Washington, students increasingly face deportation, making their activism riskier than ever.

Sources: New Yorker

The Rise of the 'Begpacker'

It's crowdfunding by actual huddled masses. Within earshot of starving locals appealing for food, a growing number of western backpackers are being spotted begging for money to fund their travels around Asia, cardboard signs propped up with expensive cameras and mobile phones. While begging in Southeast Asia is not unusual - poverty levels in some regions can hit 25 percent - its appropriation by relatively affluent young tourists is raising more than a few eyebrows. While some say "begpackers" are doing no harm, many others say the fad's devaluing the very countries they're experiencing.

Sources: OZY

Googling the Future of African Literature

They may not understand, but they get it. Spanning a Nairobi workshop, an online library and a website with several published anthologies, the Jalada literary collective is elevating African voices. Holding meetings, hosting mutual critiquing sessions and finding mentors, the collective has united and empowered authors via digital media. While it showcases unique and diverse works in colonial languages such as English and Arabic, Jalada's also nurturing indigenous-language publishing, both with authors writing in their native tongue and translations, with one work in Kenya's tribal Kikuyu available in 62 other languages - so far.

Sources: Pacific Standard

When 'The King' Was a Pretender

His basketball sovereignty is unquestioned. As LeBron James steamrolls through another conference final, it's time to remember when some doubted his pre-eminence. In 2007, James was royally second-guessed for giving the ball to an open teammate - who missed - rather than take the last-second shot while double-teamed. He was blamed for losing Eastern Conference Finals Game One to Detroit, but four games later, LeBron would score 48 points and monopolize the scoreboard for most of the last quarter of the Cavs' 109-107 victory - winning him the crown he wears today.

Sources: The Undefeated