26 August, 2017
The White House press briefing began with Sarah Sanders wishing a few family members a happy birthday, on a light-hearted and amicable tone, before reading out a letter from a child who had written to the President.
Another Jewish-American in the administration, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, also faced calls to quit in the aftermath of Charlottesville, but has refused to do so, and has staunchly defended Trump.
KARL: What did the president mean when he said.
The New York Times has reported that following the events in Charlottesville and President Trump's initial response to it, Cohn was under enormous pressure from Wall Street associates, friends, and family to resign.
"Our job is to be cutting through all the noise and try not to get caught in this whole distraction, this whole circus that's going on", said Daniel Garza, president of the Libre Initiative, a group in the network that focuses on Latino voters.
Since the respected general was named White House chief of staff last July 28, the word in Washington has been that his mission is to put order in a White House shaken by opposing factions and rivalries to influence the president.
The White House isn't even pretending that Mexico is going to pay for that wall anymore.
"Again, this is something the president committed to", she said.
The lack of focus from the Trump Cabinet is certainly downplaying the targeted efforts of congressional Republican leaders, business executives and conservative activists to build public support for tax reform before Congress reconvenes.
She adds that Trump and McConnell "remain united on many shared priorities", including middle-class tax relief, strengthening the military and constructing a Southern border wall. Sanders said she did not know but would circle back. I'm not going to get into deliberation on specific conversations they may have had.
Building the border wall, with Mexico's money, was Trump's signature campaign promise. "We know that the wall and other security measures at the border work, we've seen that take place over the last decade, and we're committed to making sure the American people are protected". This despite a New York Times report Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell questions Trump's ability to get anything done and Trump's attacks on Arizona's two GOP senators John McCain and Jeff Flake at this week's Phoenix rally.
Trump "will purposefully hurt American communities to force American taxpayers to fund an immoral, ineffective and expensive border wall", she wrote in a statement.
