Trump reassures supporters in fiery campaign-style speech

Trump reassures supporters in fiery campaign-style speech


MELBOURNE, United States, Feb 19, (AFP) - President Donald Trump turned back the clock Saturday with a bold and aggressive Florida speech straight out of his 2016 campaign playbook, enthralling fans while insisting all is well in the White House despite weeks of turbulence.

     He also took aim at his favorite foil, the "dishonest" news media that he said has become "part of the corrupt system."

     At the end of a stormy first month in office, the billionaire took the power of the presidency on the road, revisiting the style and substance of the campaign trail.

     After stepping down from Air Force One to a deafening cheer, he was drawn into the collective bosom of several thousand of his dearest followers -- mostly white, mostly male middle-class Americans who feel they have been left behind by the country's shifting economy.

     "I'm here because I want to be among my friends and among the people," he said.

     Trump employed a loud and muscular delivery -- one which won over millions of voters on the campaign trail last year -- to assure Americans he is fulfilling promises to shrink government, rebuild the military, restrict immigration, and tear up health care reforms enacted by predecessor Barack Obama.

     "This will be change for the ages," the president said at the event in Melbourne, a sun-bleached city on Florida's Space Coast.

     But Trump was completing his first month in office under a cloud in Washington, where lawmakers pledged to further investigate his possible pre-election ties to Russia, his national security advisor was forced to resign in disgrace, and a cabinet nominee withdrew amid controversy.

     "The White House is running so smoothly, so smoothly," Trump stressed, before going on an extended rant about the US media.

     "I also want to speak to you without the filter of the fake news," Trump said.

     "They've become a big part of the problem. They are part of the corrupt system," he said, continuing the open warfare with the media that has marked his young presidency.

First Lady's prayer

     Aside from the fact that Trump is now leader of the free world, the event was eerily similar in style to his campaign -- from the layout, to the recorded music, to the president's largely impromptu delivery.

     About the only thing missing was attacks on his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

     Trump acknowledged that he is always in campaign mode.

     "Life is a campaign," he told reporters on Air Force One ahead of the rally. "To make America great again is absolutely a campaign. It's not easy, especially when we're also fighting the press."

     During his speech, Trump reiterated his pledge to crack down on terrorism, saying he has "ordered decisive action to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country."

     And he said his administration would submit "in a couple of weeks" a plan to repeal and replace "the disaster known as Obamacare."

     Republican leaders in Congress have said they will unveil their health care plans in the coming weeks as well.

     Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump, who is usually soft-spoken, broke with form by reciting the Lord's Prayer to begin the event, then issuing a scathing rebuke of her husband's enemies and her critics.

     "I will always stay true to myself and be truthful to you, no matter what the opposition is saying about me," she said.

     At one point, the president broke security protocol by inviting a supporter to hop a barrier and join him onstage.

     "Mr President, thank you, sir," said Gene Huber, a car salesman from West Palm Beach who said he arrived at 4 am to be first in line for the event.

     "This is a world leader now who's taking control," Huber told AFP earlier. "No jitters at all."

'Total garbage'

     The commander-in-chief was clearly seeking to reconnect with his tribe in a reassuring environment.

     Tensions have soared in recent days as lawmakers pressed for more information about the Trump campaign's connections with Russia. On Thursday, Trump held a news conference that was startling in its vitriol against the media.

     He later took to Twitter to call the media the "enemy of the American People."

     White House chief of staff Reince Priebus warned the media not to brush off Trump's denunciation.

     "I think you should take it seriously," Priebus told CBS in an interview Saturday, which will air in full on Sunday.

     "I think that the problem we've got is that we're talking about bogus stories like the one in the New York Times, that we've had constant contact with Russian officials. The next day, the Wall Street Journal had a story that the intel community was not giving the president a full intelligence briefing. Both stories grossly inaccurate, overstated, overblown, and it's total garbage."

     Robert Sponsler, 64, a retired railroad worker from Jacksonville who was attending the rally, turned his nose up at the stew in the capital.

     "We don't care," he said of the various controversies. "He don't owe nobody nothing. I'm with him 100 percent."

Connectivity at the heart of economic success, PM says at Nepal Infrastructure Summit

Connectivity at the heart of economic success, PM says at Nepal Infrastructure Summit


Kathmandu, Feb 19: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said infrastructure is the foundation of development, and infrastructure development is the topmost priority as Nepal aspires to reach middle-income country by 2030.

"It is through robust and sustainable infrastructure, cost of production is minimized; productivity of workforce is enhanced; economic and industrial growth is propelled; and, ultimately the welfare of society is boosted," the PM said during his inaugural statement at Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2017 in the capital city on Sunday.

The PM said that lack of basic infrastructure has forced us to witness an average of below four percent economic growth over the last decade and the infrastructure gap has directly hurt the development activities.

He was of the statement that the public sector bears the responsibility to develop basic infrastructures but that responsibility was not exclusive as the private sector is an indispensable partner in this endeavour.

Saying that to develop the basic infrastructure, mobilization of private sector is not a luxury, Dahal added the government was committed to work in partnership with the private sector to bridge the infrastructure gap. "We have adopted the policy of Public –Private Partnership (PPP). Necessary acts, regulations and guidelines have been streamlined," Dahal assured.

On the occasion, PM Dahal said that infrastructure development in Nepal has been constrained by geography, by limited capital and by investment gap.

He also urged the private sector and financial institutions for increased investment in the country. Stating that domestic resources were limited, Dahal said that foreign investment was an essential source to meet the investment gap.

"Our water resources, biodiversity and human resources can be utilized to meet our development aspirations. If harnessed properly, they can contribute to our economy," the PM added.

Likewise, the PM said that cross-border connectivity of infrastructures was a key to benefit from the fastest growing economies of our two neighbours-- China and India.

"This is the world of interconnectedness. Connectivity lies at the heart of economic success. We can realize shared success through shared efforts. Partnership between the governments to develop cross-border infrastructures can bear remarkable fruits of development, PM Dahal underscored the need for partnership.

On the occasion, the PM said that Nepal has given top priority to energy and transport connectivity as the key components of infrastructure development. "Our efforts to make the country load-shedding free has been encouraging and we want to maintain the momentum to generate required energy to enhance our agricultural productivity, expand industrial base and promote service sector," he viewed.

Inviting the foreign investors in Nepal, PM Dahal said Nepal has adopted liberal policy in foreign investment and expressed commitment to further improve it. "Our labour policy is market friendly. Abundance of cheap labour is another asset," he claimed. 

Recalling the devastating earthquake and the consequent aftershocks, PM Dahal said that Nepal has an important task of building the infrastructures and expressed commitment to building sustainable and resilient infrastructures in partnership with private sector. He also hoped continued supports from the international community in this effort. RSS