Good Morning DC,
We’re back!
Over the Easter holidays, NYC Mayor Eric Adams authored another community Op-Ed, which was featured in The Pavlovic Today. If you missed it, you can read it here.
A solar eclipse will take place today at 2pm EDT and will last for two hours. It is the biggest one since 2017 so make sure you use real solar eclipse glasses to protect yourself.
Let’s get you caught up with the news of the day.
President Biden spent the weekend in Delaware and after the Presidential Daily Brief, he is heading to Wisconsin and then Chicago for a campaign reception.
Biden is addressing today the critical issue of semiconductor production—a key component in smartphones, cars, satellites, and weapons systems. Despite the US inventing semiconductors, its global production share has plummeted from nearly 40% to just over 10%, posing economic and security risks. “I was determined to turn that around,” said Biden touting his CHIPS and Science Act.
Biden is announcing today that the Department of Commerce has struck a preliminary deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). TSMC will construct a third chip factory in Phoenix, Arizona, raising its investment to $65 billion. According to Biden, this deal will generate over 25,000 direct jobs and will enable the US to produce 20% of the world’s semiconductors by 2030.
Former President Donald Trump‘s fundraiser in Palm Beach at the home of home of billionaire John Paulson was a success. The Republican National Committee (RNC) confirmed that Trump raised over $50.5 million.
“Americans are fed up with Biden’s record of failure, from the open southern border and sky-high inflation to the migrant crime crisis that has made everyone less safe,” said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chairman Lara Trump.
The substantial fundraising amount, double that of Biden, Clinton, and Obama’s celebrity-filled event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, has prompted responses from the Biden camp. They say that the money Trump raised will go towards his legal fees and that Republican big donors have already reached their maximum contribution limit.
But there’s more. The Biden campaign is responding to a New York Times report alleging the comments Trump made in Palm Beach. According to the news report, Trump suggested that the upcoming November election could be the last for the United States.
‘This could very well be the last election this country ever has…July 4 is not as important as this as far as I’m concerned,” Trump said as per NYT.
Biden campaign issued a statement saying, “Independence Day in Donald Trump’s America will apparently no longer be July 4 – what he and MAGA extremists celebrate every day is the violence that we saw on January 6 when rioters stormed the Capitol and tried to tear down everything our founders fought for nearly 250 years ago.”
Over the weekend, Trump said on social media that he’s becoming a political prisoner likening his situation to that of “a Modern Day Nelson Mandela.”
The Biden campaign shared their response to the Mandela analogy.
“Imagine being so self-centered that you compare yourself to Jesus Christ and Nelson Mandela all within the span of little more than a week: that’s Donald Trump for you,” said Jasmine Harris.
In a development regarding abortion rights, Trump is poised to make an announcement today. “Like Ronald Reagan before me, I, and most other Republicans, believe in EXCEPTIONS for Rape, Incest, and Life of the Mother.”
It look like the Republicans are recognizing the negative impact of their firm stance on abortion on their prospects for gaining support from women voters.
After a two-week recess, the Senate has reconvened, and the House will resume its legislative duties on Tuesday.
Marking the six months since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Hakeem Jeffries emphasized that Hamas “must be decisively defeated.” He also addressed the tragic killing of aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, stressing “the urgent need to do more to keep civilians safe and to surge humanitarian relief into Gaza.”
Jeffries said that he “strongly” supports the Biden call for a negotiated resolution that will lay out a foundation for a” just and lasting peace” between Israel and the Palestinian people.
Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez along many other members of Congress, have sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging them to “reconsider” their decision to authorize the transfer of a new arms package to Israel.
The members of Congress are calling on Biden to “withhold this and any future offensive arms transfers until a full investigation into the airstrike is completed.”
Secretary Blinken is set to meet with Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid in Foggy Bottom today.
Israel has withdrawn the majority of its troops from southern Gaza.
Our sources at the State Department say that there has been some progress in talks over a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
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UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron is set to visit the US, where he will meet with Speaker Jonson. His objective is to persuade Speaker Johnson to halt his Republican colleagues’ ongoing obstruction of support to Ukraine.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić has arrived in Paris for a two-day official visit. He is scheduled to meet with President Emmanuel Macron this evening to discuss strategic directions for elevating bilateral relations between the two countries to the next level.
And that’s a wrap for this morning April 8, 2024. Good Morning DC will be back tomorrow to provide you with a front-row seat to the ever-evolving landscape of American politics under President Joe Biden.
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