West Wing Reads

Trump Stands Up for Religious Freedom Yesterday, President Trump became the first American President to convene a meeting at the United Nations on religious freedom, as he kicked off the U.N. General Assembly’s annual session with a “Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom,” writes Kelsey Zorzi, President of the U.N.’s NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, in The Wall Street Journal. “Flanked by Secretary-General António Guterres and Vice President Mike Pence, the president declared: ‘No right is more fundamental to a peaceful, prosperous, flourishing society than religious freedom, yet it is rare around the world. As we speak, many people of faith are being jailed, murdered, often at the hands of their own government.’” Calling this issue an “urgent moral duty,” the President “announced that the U.S. is committing $25 million to religious-freedom efforts and launching a coalition of businesses for religious freedom.” Click here to read more. “President Trump and Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a defense agreement Monday that will shift U.S. soldiers into Poland at the Eastern European nation’s expense,” Tom Howell Jr. reports in The Washington Times. “They’re going to be building us facilities that I’m sure will be very beautiful,” the President said in a bilateral meeting at the U.N. General Assembly. “During a White House visit in June, Mr. Duda said Poland agreed to house about 1,000 U.S. soldiers on its soil. Mr. Trump also said the U.S. is making Poland eligible for the visa-waiver program to ease travel between the countries.” “Fueled by lax laws, promises of sanctuary, and a growing threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border, the illegal immigrant population in the United States has surged nearly 2 million to 14.3 million, according to a new calculation from a key immigration policy group,” Paul Bedard writes in the Washington Examiner. “Citing several reasons for the growth over the past two years, the Federation for American Immigration Reform said the total could jump to 21 million in just six years without reforms to stop illegal immigration and improve legal entry.” In The Washington Times, Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James writes that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) sets us on a course for freer trade with Canada and Mexico, thereby advancing our Nation’s economic growth. “The United States should be doing all it can to maintain a strong economy while protecting Americans’ wallets and jobs.” James explains that trade issues “aren’t just the concern of policy wonks — they’re critical to the American way of life.”