REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AT THE 2019 CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ACTION CONFERENCE

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 3, 2019

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AT THE 2019 CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ACTION CONFERENCE Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center National Harbor, Maryland   March 2, 2019   12:17 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Oh, thank you very much. Thank you very much. And thank you very much also to a man named Matt Schlapp. What a job he's done. (Applause.) And to CPAC -- I actually started quite a while ago at CPAC, and came here -- probably made my first real political speech. And I enjoyed it so much that I came back for a second one, then a third. Then I said, what the hell, let's run for President. Right? (Applause.)  But it's wonderful to be back with so many great patriots, old friends, and brave young conservatives. What a future you have. (Applause.)  Our movement and our future in our country is unlimited. What we've done together has never been done in the history maybe of beyond of country, maybe in the history of the world. They came from the mountains and the valleys and the cities. They came from all over. And what we did in 2016 -- the Election, we call it, with a capital "E" -- it's never been done before. And we're going to do it, I think, again in 2020, and the numbers are going to be even bigger. (Applause.)  AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!  THE PRESIDENT: And we all had to endure, as I was running. So you had 17 Republicans, plus me. (Laughter.) And I was probably more of a conservative than a Republican. People just didn’t quite understand that. They didn’t understand it.  I think now, with what we've done with the judiciary and so many other things, I think they get it very well. And it's driving the other side crazy. (Applause.) But we all had to endure, remember? How many times did you hear, for months and months, "There is no way to 270"? You know what that means, right? "There is no way to 270." They couldn’t get me there. We might as well have just given up. But there wasn’t any way to 270.  In fact, I actually went up to Maine to get one, and I did win the one. But we didn’t need the one. (Applause.) We didn’t need it. We won Maine. We won our half of Maine, remember? You have Nebraska. We won both in Nebraska. We won the half we had to win in Maine. So we got the one, but we didn’t need the one, because we didn’t get 270; we got 306 to 223. (Applause.) 223-306.  A state called Wisconsin, a state called -- (applause) -- Michigan, where -- by the way, where Fiat Chrysler just announced a $4.5 billion incredible -- (applause) -- expansion and new plant, doubling their workforce. Many, many car companies have moved back to Michigan and are continuing to do so. (Applause.) Big numbers. Nobody every thought they'd see that happen.  So I think we're going to do even better in 2020. I think we're going to do numbers that people haven’t seen for a long time. (Applause.)  The men and women here today are on the frontlines of protecting America’s interests, defending America’s value, and reclaiming our nation’s priceless heritage. It's true. (Applause.)  With your help, we are reversing decades of blunders and betrayals. These are serious, serious betrayals to our nation and to everything we stand for. It's been done by the failed ruling class that enriched foreign countries at our expense. It wasn’t "America first." In many cases, it was "America last." Those days are over. Long over. (Applause.)  America is winning again. (Applause.) America is respected again. (Applause.) And the world knows it. When I meet with prime ministers, when I meet with presidents -- and I get along with them -- because they know that what's taken place over many years -- not just the Obama administration; long before that -- they can't believe, themselves, that they got away with it. They can't believe it. An impossible thing. And they like me. (Applause.)  And the reason they like me -- they tell me; they say, "Mr. President…" I said -- as an example, President Xi of China, I have great respect. We have a great relationship. I say, "How is it possible that you got away with this for so long?" (Laughter.) And he said, "Because nobody ever asked us to change." It's true.  When they charge 40 percent tariffs on our cars going into China, and we charge them nothing coming into our country; when they raise their tariff from 10 percent to 25 percent and then to 40 percent -- and they said to me, "We expected that somebody would call and say you can't do that." (Laughter.) "Nobody called, so we just leftit." And I don’t blame them. We should’ve been doing the same thing to them. But we didn’t. (Applause.) True. Right? Hard to believe. It's hard to believe. But now things are different. Now we're negotiating with China. They wouldn’t negotiate with previous administrations. But I found some very old laws from when our country was rich -- really rich. The old tariff laws -- we had to dust them off; you could hardly see, they were so dusty.  But, fortunately, they weren’t terminated. We started getting politically correct, even back then. But I said, when we were doing the great things, what happened to those laws? And I checked, and I found 301 and 382. I found one, 1938, where we can do what we have to do.  But, you know, they had a debate in -- it was really a tough time in our country because we had so much money we didn’t know what the hell to do with it. Tough, tough, tough. It was called the Great Tariff Debate. Mark Levin will look this up. (Laughter.)  And the problem is, with Mark, if I make a little mistake, he'll let us know on Sunday night. (Laughter.) I got to be very careful when I talk about this.  But it was the Great Tariff Debate of 1888. And the debate was: We didn’t know what to do with all of the money we were making. We were so rich. And McKinley, prior to being President, he was very strong on protecting our assets, protecting our country. And he made statements that, "Others cannot come into our country and steal our wealth and steal our jobs, and build their country and not defend our country. We can't do that. We can't ever allow that to happen." (Applause.) And, you know -- I don't know, maybe you know. You know I'm totally off-script, right?  AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.) THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, darling. (Laughter.) You know I'm totally off script right now. And this is how I got elected, by being off script. (Applause.) True. And if we don’t go off script, our country is in big trouble, folks. Because we have to get it back. And when I look at what's happening on the other side, I encourage it. I say, "No, no…" -- I think the New Green Deal, or whatever the hell they call it -- AUDIENCE: Booo -- THE PRESIDENT: The Green New Deal, right? Green New Deal -- I encourage it. I think it's really something that they should promote. (Laughter.) They should work hard on. It's something our country needs desperately. They have to go out and get it. But I'll take the other side of that argument only because I'm mandated to. I'm mandated. But they should stay with that argument. Never change. (Laughter.) Never change. (Applause.) No planes. No energy. (Laughter.) When the wind stops blowing, that's the end of your electric. (Laughter.) Let's hurry up. "Darling" -- "Darling, is the wind blowing today? I'd like to watch television, darling." (Laughter and applause.) No, but it's true. So the Great Tariff Debate of 1888 -- and then we had so much money we could do whatever we wanted. We built forces up that were incredible. Then, in 1913, they ended tariffs, okay? They ended tariffs. Somebody got stupid and they ended tariffs. They said, "Oh, it's okay for other nations to come in." I won't use a certain words because it's not politically -- but everybody knows the word I'd love to use. Should I use it? I won't do it. (Applause.)  Our great First Lady always said, "Don't use certain words, please." I said, "But the audience wanted me to do it." She said, "Don't do it." And the problem is, if I do do that, they won't put the little preamble that we just went through. They'll just use the word, and they'll said, "Isn't that terrible." So I won't use it. (Laughter.) I've learned. Because with the fake news -- AUDIENCE: Booo -- THE PRESIDENT: -- if you tell a joke, if you're sarcastic, if you're having fun with the audience, if you're on live television with millions of people and 25,000 people in an arena, and if you say something like, "Russia, please, if you can, get us Hillary Clinton's emails. Please, Russia, please." (Applause.) "Please get us the emails. Please!"  AUDIENCE: Trump! Trump! Trump! THE PRESIDENT: So everybody is having a good time. I'm laughing, we're all having fun. And then that fake CNN and others say, "He asked Russia to go get the emails. Horrible." (Laughter.) I mean, I thought -- like, two weeks ago, I'm watching and they're talking about one of the points. "He asked Russia for the emails." These people are sick. (Laughter.) And I'm telling you, they know the game. They know the game, and they play it dirty -- dirtier than anybody has ever played the game. Dirtier than it's ever been played.  But the thing that we've done is very special. Because, on trade, and because of tariffs -- and I know there are people in the Republican Party and people -- really, even conservatives -- good conservatives -- they don’t like tariffs. I'm not liking or not liking. The minimum, the greatest negotiating tool in the history of our country.  Do you think China would be sending their top representatives over? Right now, China is paying 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of technology goods. I was then going to charge them 25 percent on $200 billion. Not like $200 million -- that's a lot. This is 200 with a "B" -- billion. Two-hundred billion. So -- but I was nice, because we're having a very strong negotiation, which if it weren’t for tariffs -- and I tell this to President Xi; this is nothing to hide. I would never be talking like this because, in theory, it could hurt your negotiating position. But in my case, it can't, because it's true.  I was nice, and I left it at 10 percent on $200 billion. And here's the beauty: We've lost so much money with China -- $500 billion a year. And on trade, it's such a disaster; it's $507 billion a year. China -- just one country. We lose with everybody, almost. But China is one country. $507 billion, for many years.  So the beauty is this: I have $250 billion more to put tariffs on. The numbers are staggering. Billions of dollars, right now, are pouring into our Treasury. And for those of you that haven’t done the research, if you look, of the 25 percent, our country -- as it's turned out, because it's now been on there for a long while. Our -- and I'm in no rush because I'm fine with it. I'm fine with it. Of the 25 points, we've paid for 4 points, and China has paid for 21 points. Okay? Twenty-one. That’s what the numbers are. It's very simple. You know, everyone said, "Oh, it's a tax on our…" It's not really. And what China and other countries do sometimes is they will subsidize it. So the tax really is incredible. But what it is, beyond everything else, I can negotiate.  But then you have senators and a few congressman, but not Mark Meadows. Where is the great Mark Meadows? He's here someplace. (Applause.) Man, has he been good. Mark and Jim Jordan, and --(applause) -- I want to name every one of those couple of hundred people. Because we do have a lot. I want to name every damn one of them. They have been incredible. They've been fighting. And I just see Mark in the audience. They've been fighting -- with Deb, much more important. His wife is incredible. What an asset. He would be nowhere without her. (Laughter and applause.) Right?  But they fight so hard on this witch hunt, this phony deal that they put together; this phony thing that now looks like it's dying. So they don’t have anything with Russia. There's no collusion. So now they go and morph into, "Let's inspect every deal he's ever done. We're going to go into his finances. We're going to check his deals. We're going to check…" These people are sick. (Laughter.) They're sick. (Applause.)  I saw little Shifty Schiff yesterday. No, it's the first time. He went into a meeting and he said, "We're going to look into his finances." I said, "Where did that come from?" He always talked about Russia -- collusion with Russia. The collusion delusion. (Laughter and applause.) So now we're waiting for a report, and we'll find out whether or not, and who we're dealing with. We're waiting for a report by people that weren’t elected. We had -- think of this: We had the greatest election -- in all fairness, I used to hear Andrew Jackson. This was now greater than the election of Andrew Jackson. People say that. No, people say it. (Applause.) I'm not saying it. Right? This was the equivalent or greater. You know, they used to go to Ronald Reagan, when I first started. "This is Ronald Reagan." Then we started really doing well, and they were coming from everywhere to vote. Those red hats -- and white ones. The key is in the color. The key is what it says. "Make America Great Again," is what it says. (Applause.) Right? Right? But we had the greatest of all time. Now we have people that lost. And unfortunately, you put the wrong people in a couple of positions, and they leave people for a long time that shouldn't be there. And, all of a sudden, they're trying to take you out with bullshit. Okay? (Laughter.) With bullshit. (Applause.) Now, Robert Mueller never received a vote, and neither did the person that appointed him. And as you know, the Attorney General says, "I'm going to recuse myself." (Laughter.) "I'm going to recuse." And I said, why the hell didn’t he tell me that before I put him in? How do you recuse yourself? But the person that appointed Robert Mueller never received a vote. Robert Mueller put 13 of the angriest Democrats in the history of our country on the commission. (Laughter.) Now, how do you do that? These are angry, angry people. You take a look at them. One of them was involved with the Hillary Clinton Foundation, running it. Another one has perhaps the worst reputation of any human being I've ever seen. (Laughter.) All killers. In fact, it would've been actually better for them if they put half and half, and Mueller can do whatever he wants anyway, which he'll probably do. But we have conflicts. I had a nasty business transaction with Robert Mueller a number of years ago. I said, why isn’t that mentioned? He wanted the job as FBI Director. I mean, these are things that are out there; they know it. Why isn’t that -- and I didn’t give it to him. Why isn’t that mentioned? Jim Comey -- Lyin' James Comey -- AUDIENCE: Booo -- THE PRESIDENT: -- is his best friend. James Comey is his best friend. And those are a few of the conflicts. Other than that, it's wonderful. (Laughter.)  So -- so everybody is waiting. I thought of it this morning, Mark. And I heard you made an incredible speech and statement today. Mark Levin. I heard it was incredible. (Applause.) And I was on the way. But I'll see it later. I guarantee I'll be watching it later. I have one of the great inventions in history. It's called TiVo. (Laughter.) I think it's actually better than television, because television is practically useless without TiVo, right? (Laughter.) But I'll be watching it later, Mark. But people that got no votes. But I heard this morning, "President Trump is waiting for the Mueller report." I said, wait a minute, let me get this straight. (Laughter.) So the Attorney General recuses himself, and I don’t fire him. No obstruction. That's the other thing: If you use your right, if you use your power, if you use Article 2, it's called obstruction. But only for Trump. For nobody else. (Laughter.)  So the Attorney General is weak and ineffective, and he doesn’t do what he should've done. Somebody that never got a vote writes a powerful letter -- horrible -- about Comey. Every single Democrat said Comey should be fired, or worse, if possible. (Laughter.) Every Republican said -- everybody -- in fact, when I fired Comey, I said, "You know…" -- First Lady -- I said, "Melania, I'm doing something today. I'm doing it because it really has to be done." He's bad. He's a bad, bad -- he's a bad, bad guy. That's been proven now with all of the emails and the texts.  "I'm doing something that has to be done. But you know the good news? It's going to be bipartisan. It's going to be so popular, it's going to be bipartisan." (Laughter.) Every Democrat hates him. Every Republican hates him. He did a horrible job at the FBI. Speak to the real agents, the real people. Because the people in the FBI are incredible people -- not the sleaze on top. (Applause.)  And I said to the First Lady -- I said, "But you know the good news? The good news is that this is going to be so bipartisan. Everyone is going to love it."  So we fire Comey. And Schumer -- who called for his resignation many times -- Podesta, I believe that day -- because he still hasn’t gotten over getting his ass kicked, okay? (Applause.) I believe that day called for his resignation. That day. Podesta, the great genius of campaigns. (Laughter.) He called for the Comey resignation. Others -- almost every, I would say. Mark, would you say virtually every Democrat, virtually every -- I can't think of anybody that said he's doing a good job.  So I said to Melania, "Melania, the good news, this will be a popular thing." (Laughter.) And I fire a bad cop. I fire a dirty cop. And all of a sudden, the Democrats say, "How dare he fire him. How dare he do this." And that's where we are, folks. That's where we are. We're in this swamp of Washington, D.C.  But you know what? We're winning, and they're not. We're winning. (Applause.)  So, just to finish -- and I'll tell you, Matt Schlapp is loving this. (Laughter.) He's saying, "This is a lot more than we paid for." You know, normally you read a few pages and you say, "Bye, folks." But you know what I like about this? Number one, I'm in love, and you're in love. We're all in love together. We've done something that nobody has ever done. (Applause.) Right? It's easy. No, it's easy.  You know, a great friend of mine from New York, he's a stone-cold killer. He's a brutal man. He's actually not even a good friend of mine because he'd turn on me in two seconds if it was (inaudible). (Laughter.) But he's a very rich guy. And he said, "What are you going to speak about today? Like, what are you going to speak?" I said, "I don't know. I don't know." (Laughter.) He said, "I just heard that you have the biggest crowd in the history of CPAC. They're all over. By the way, not only in this giant room. They're in many hotel rooms all over the place. You're just better at real estate than they are." (Laughter and applause.) True. But this guy -- you all know his name -- very rich guy. And he has a problem with a thing called public speaking. If he has to speak to more than like five people, he chokes. (Laughter.) He can't breathe. You know, juh-juh. "Are you okay?" He kills people for a living -- meaning mentally and financially -- but if there's like an audience of nine, it's like "augh." (Laughter.) So he said to me, "How the hell do you do that?" And I said, "It's easy." And the reason it's easy -- I really mean this -- there's so much love in this room, it's easy to talk. You can talk your heart out. You really could. There's love in this room. (Applause.) You can talk your heart out. It's easy. (Applause.) It's easy. It's easy.  And we've had that from the day I came down with your First Lady on the escalator in Trump Tower. It's been easy. (Applause.)  And you know what? We never had an empty seat. We went out and helped Ted Cruz. We went out and helped so many people. And I'll tell you what: If we didn’t do those 32 rallies -- and it wasn’t easy. When you're doing rallies with 25-, 30,000 people -- in Texas, we had 109,000 people sign up. We used the Houston Rockets arena; it holds 22,000. Tens of thousands were outside. We were sending notices, "Please don’t come." That's a little different. Usually, people are begging. "Well, yeah, like can somebody come?" (Laughter.) We never had an empty seat. Of course, the Washington Post -- a guy named David Weigel -- he wrote an article, some arena -- AUDIENCE: Booo -- THE PRESIDENT: No, listen to this. He wrote an article. He got there four hours early. He took pictures of an empty arena. He then put out a note -- something to the effect, "Not very good crowd size, Mr. President." And I never saw it because I don’t follow the guy. But thousands of people that were in that arena that was packed with 25,000 people outside that couldn’t get in -- he got there four or five hours early because he doesn’t fly private. You know. (Laughter.) And maybe it's because of the carbon footprint. You think maybe that's it? (Laughter.) Maybe. Must be the carbon footprint. He just doesn’t want private. But he got there hours early. And, you know, the place hadn’t started taking in people. They weren’t going to take them in. So there were virtually nobody. And, you know, whatever it was --18,000 -- when you have nobody, it's a little scary-looking. So he took pictures. And you know who really got even? Our people. Because they were incensed. We had people sitting on the stairwells. We had people sitting in every seat. I don’t think we've had an empty seat since we announced. And from the day we came down the escalator, I really don’t believe we've had an empty seat at any arena, at any stadium. It's been an incredible thing. And that's why I say this has never, ever happened before, and now we have to verify it in 2020 with an even bigger victory. (Applause.)  AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! THE PRESIDENT: And, by the way, just to finish that story, the great Sarah Huckabee and Mercedes, who is incredible, sitting right here -- (applause) -- Mercedes, thank you. They always say -- you know, they're good people, right? Much better than I am. They always say, "Don't bring it up. Don’t fight. Don’t fight. Everyone understands." I said, "They don’t understand." If I don’t explain it, how are they going to understand? So remember the arena one, right? And then it was shown. And the Washington Post had to do -- and this particular writer -- had to do a -- I thought he was going to get fired. I mean, if that were a conservative, he would've been fired on the spot. He would've been humiliated for what he did. Because it was fake news. Nobody was in the arena. There were thousands outside but they hadn’t opened the gates yet.

Resolute Reads REAL NEWS PRESIDENT TRUMP DOESN'T WANT YOU TO MISS

REAL NEWS PRESIDENT TRUMP DOESN'T WANT YOU TO MISS Thank You, Tax Reform -The Wall Street Journal This week, the White House Council of Economic Advisers reported that America’s economy achieved 3 percent growth for the first time in 13 years in 2018. “The American economy is a tremendous engine of prosperity when politicians get out of the way, and for proof look no further than Thursday’s report on fourth-quarter growth,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes. “Tax reform and deregulation, take a bow.” More: 2018—A Banner Year for the U.S. Economy President Trump Thanks Fiat Chrysler for ‘Coming Back to the USA’ -Detroit Free Press On Tuesday, Fiat Chrysler announced that Detroit, Michigan, “will get a Jeep factory, the Motor City’s first new auto assembly plant in a generation, as part of a $4.5 billion manufacturing expansion that will mean nearly 6,500 new jobs,” Amy Huschka reports. With jobs coming back to the Midwest thanks to the promise of the new U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement, President Trump praised the move: “Thank you Fiat Chrysler. They are all coming back to the USA, it’s where the action is!” In Hanoi, Trump Won By Walking Away -New York Post “Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times,” President Donald J. Trump said as he prepared to leave Vietnam following his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un this week. Good for the President, the New York Post editorial board says. “Just what we expected in noting the other day that ‘his history suggests he’s always willing to walk away from a deal that’s not good enough.’”  America’s Students Deserve Freedom to Choose Their Education Options -USA Today Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL) write too many American children are being denied a great education—and that the government’s outdated approach isn’t helping. “That’s why on Thursday we [put] forward a historic investment in America’s students: the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act.” Pence Hits Venezuela with New Sanctions, Promises ‘Even Stronger’ Measures Ahead -NBC News “Vice President Mike Pence on Monday announced new sanctions against Venezuelan government officials and called on allies to freeze the assets of the state-owned oil company after a deadly weekend in which U.S. aid was blocked from entering the crisis-stricken country,” Carmen Sesin reports. While in Columbia this week, the Vice President met with Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido, whom President Trump officially recognized as Venezuela’s head of state in January. Trump Slams Senate Democrats on Born Alive Bill: ‘One of the Most Shocking Votes in the History of Congress’ -The Daily Caller “President Donald Trump reacted on Twitter Monday evening after the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, which would have ensured that babies who survive abortions are given medical attention, failed to pass the Senate,” Evie Fordham reports. “This will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress,” the President tweeted.  Trump Praises Purchases by Vietnamese Airlines -Washington Examiner “The White House on Wednesday praised airlines in Vietnam for signing agreements to purchase more than $20 billion in U.S.-built planes and technology. President Trump and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong attended a signing ceremony that involved trade deals between a number of airline companies based in the two countries,” Zachary Halaschak writes.

Presidential Message on Read Across America Day, 2019

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2019

Presidential Message on Read Across America Day, 2019   On Read Across America Day, we join with students and their families, teachers and librarians, and communities across our Nation in promoting the joy of reading and the many ways in which literacy enriches our lives. Since 1998, Americans have celebrated Read Across America Day to help inspire young people to read and to support literacy for all our citizens.  Throughout history, literacy has led to incredible discoveries, groundbreaking innovations, and development of the world’s greatest minds.  By enabling us to explore new subjects and challenging us to think critically, reading helps power the success of our Nation.  As we mark this special day, let us remember that all children hold the promise of a bright and beautiful future, and it is through the wonderful gift of reading that they begin to learn, grow, and explore.  In the timeless words of Dr. Seuss, “the more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”  May these truths be a reminder of the duty we all share to instill a love of reading in future generations.

National Consumer Protection Week, 2019

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2019 National Consumer Protection Week, 2019 - - - - - - - By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation   During National Consumer Protection Week, we redouble our efforts to prepare Americans to successfully navigate our dynamic market economy.  Fraudulent and deceptive financial practices impede our economic success by depriving consumers of access to the best, most accurate information to guide their choices among competing goods and services. We live in an age of rapidly evolving technology, in which more Americans conduct their personal and professional business on the internet and other mobile platforms.  While these technological innovations provide convenience to consumers, they also create opportunities for scammers, hackers, and identity thieves to commit cybercrimes.  Each year, fraudulent and deceptive practices cost Americans billions of dollars and generate hours of stress and hardship. Whether managing bank accounts, paying bills, handling medical records, or engaging in e-commerce, basic consumer knowledge is critical to financial wellbeing.  This includes being vigilant when providing personal information -- such as social security and bank account numbers -- online, over the phone, or by mail.  Consumers should keep their software -- including operating systems, web browsers, and applications -- up to date.  They should never provide personal or sensitive information to anyone who directly or unexpectedly contacts them.  By taking these steps and sharing them with family and friends, especially children and older Americans, we can help protect against schemes to line the pockets of unscrupulous actors. My Administration is strongly committed to protecting consumers from those who would defraud them.  Last year, I signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which strengthens protections against identity theft by allowing consumers to contact each of the three major credit reporting agencies and freeze their credit reports for free.  I also established the Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide recommendations on regulatory and legislative changes needed to improve the investigation and prosecution of fraud and other financial crimes that harm Americans.  My Administration is also working to counter the growing threat of fraud committed against older Americans and has taken action to combat cyber fraud.  In February 2018, the DOJ announced the largest coordinated sweep of elder fraud cases in history, as well as the indictment of 36 cyber criminals in one of the largest cyber fraud enterprise prosecutions ever. National Consumer Protection Week is an opportunity to come together as government, industry, community groups, and organizations in support of a shared mission -- protecting our Nation's consumers.  This week, and throughout the year, I encourage Americans across our country to take advantage of resources that will help them better safeguard their personal and financial information so that they can continue to drive our dynamic economy for decades to come. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 3 through March 9, 2019, as National Consumer Protection Week.  I encourage individuals, businesses, organizations, government agencies, and community groups to take advantage of the broad array of online resources offered by the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and to share this information through consumer education activities in communities across the country.      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.                              DONALD J. TRUMP   ###

President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees, a United States Attorney Nominee, and United States Marshal Nominees.

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2019

President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees, a United States Attorney Nominee, and United States Marshal Nominees.   Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate judicial nominees, a United States Attorney nominee, and United States Marshal nominees, as follows: Robert J. Colville of Pennsylvania, to serve as District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.  Robert Colville is a judge on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, where he currently presides over a civil litigation calendar, including complex commercial litigation matters.  Prior to joining the bench in 2000, Judge Colville practiced at Piertragallo, Bosick & Gordon, where he handled all manner of civil litigation, including products liability and insurance defense cases.  Upon graduation from law school, Judge Colville clerked for Justice Ralph J. Cappy of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  Judge Colville received his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law and his B.A. from Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Stephanie L. Haines of Pennsylvania, to serve as District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.  Stephanie Haines is an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.  Ms. Haines serves as the sole prosecutor in the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Branch Office and handles a wide variety of federal criminal matters.  Ms. Haines has also served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.  Prior to joining the Justice Department, Ms. Haines was a member of the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where she served as both a prosecutor and defense appellate specialist.  Ms. Haines remains a reserve member of the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps.  Ms. Haines received her J.D. from Ohio Northern University College of Law and her B.A. from Juniata College. Jason K. Pulliam of Texas, to serve as District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.  Jason Pulliam is Of Counsel with Prichard Young, where his practice focuses on complex civil litigation matters.  Prior to joining the firm in 2015, Mr. Pulliam served as a Justice on Texas’ Fourth Court of Appeals and a judge for the Bexar County Court at Law, handling both civil and criminal matters.  Mr. Pulliam has also served as a member of the United States Marine Corps Judge Advocate General’s Corps, serving as defense counsel.  Mr. Pulliam received his J.D., cum laude, from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University and an M.A. and B.A., cum laude, from Brooklyn College. Matthew H. Solomson of Maryland, to serve as Judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.  Matthew Solomson is Chief Legal Officer for the Federal Government Solutions business unit of Anthem, Inc.  Prior to joining Anthem in 2015, Mr. Solomson served as Associate General Counsel at Booz Allen Hamilton, in private practice at various Washington, D.C., law firms, and as a Trial Attorney in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division.  Upon graduating from law school, Mr. Solomson served as a law clerk to Judge Francis M. Allegra of the Court of Federal Claims.  Mr. Solomson received his J.D., Order of the Coif, from the University of Maryland School of Law, an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland R.H. Smith School of Business, and his B.A., cum laude, from Brandeis University. David A. Tapp of Kentucky, to serve as Judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.  David Tapp is a judge on the Kentucky Court of Justice’s 28th Judicial Circuit.  While on the court, Judge Tapp has served as Chairman of the Circuit Judges Education Committee and a volunteer drug court judge.  Before joining the bench in 2005, Judge Tapp was both a solo practitioner and prosecutor in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.  Judge Tapp received his J.D. from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, his M.S. from Chaminade University, and his B.A. from Morehead State University.  Timothy J. Downing of Oklahoma, to serve as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.  Timothy Downing is Counselor to the Oklahoma Secretary of State.  From 2016 to 2018, Mr. Downing served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives where he was an Assistant Majority Floor Leader, an Assistant Majority Whip, and Vice-Chair of Judiciary Committee.  From 2011 to 2016, Mr. Downing was an Assistant Attorney General for Oklahoma, where he represented the State of Oklahoma in criminal appeals, was a member of the Opinion Conference, and was Director of Legislative Affairs.  Since 2011, Mr. Downing has also served as a Judge Advocate in the United States Army Reserve.  In this capacity from 2013 to 2014, he served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney at Fort Hood, Texas, working with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.  Mr. Downing received his J.D. from Regent University School of Law, his M.Mgt. from Oral Roberts University, and his B.A. from the University of Oklahoma. Michael East of North Carolina, to serve as United States Marshal for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  Michael East is a Forensic Investigator in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he served with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) for 28 years, where he was on the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force Prevention Team and the SBI Crisis Negotiation Team.  Mr. East received his B.A. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Brent R. Bunn will serve as the United States Marshal for the District of Idaho.  Brent Bunn was most recently Sheriff of Bear Lake County, Idaho.  He was elected Sheriff of Bear Lake County in 1985, and he served eight consecutive terms until his retirement in 2017.  During his term as Sheriff, Mr. Bunn served as a President of the Idaho Sheriff’s Association and as a President of the Idaho Association of Counties.  Mr. Bunn received his B.S. from Brigham Young University.

President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2019

President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate the following individual to a key position in his Administration:   Ann C. Fisher of the District of Columbia, to be a Commissioner of the Postal Regulatory Commission.  Ann C. Fisher currently serves as Public Affairs and Government Relations Director of the Postal Regulatory Commission. Fisher spent 12 years on Capitol Hill in roles including Deputy Staff Director of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In this role she served as principal Senate Republican staff architect of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 which modernized postal laws. She also served as a Government Relations Manager at the U.S. Postal Service and as an Economist on the Senate Small Business Committee. Fisher earned an M.A. from the University of South Dakota and a B.S. from Minnesota State University, Mankato. She resides in Washington D.C., with her husband David N. Fisher and their two daughters. ---   Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to appoint the following individual to a key position in his Administration: Stefan Charles Passantino of Georgia, to be a Member (General Public Rep.) of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee for the remainder of a three-year term expiring April 25, 2021.