Good morning, Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
President Trump Donates His $100,000 Salary to Alcoholism Research
President Donald Trump has donated his salary from the third-quarter of 2018 to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
According to the Associated Press, alcoholism is a personal issue for Trump, as his older brother, Fred Jr., died in 1981 after struggling with alcoholism.
Trump said his brother always told him, “don’t drink,” and the president has heeded his brother’s advice.
“I can honestly say I’ve never had a beer in my life,” Trump once told reporters. “Can you imagine, if I had, what a mess I’d be? I’d be the world’s worst.”
According to Fortune, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism conducts research on alcohol-related issues and how alcohol impacts human health and well-being.
As a presidential candidate, Trump pledged to not take the $400,000 presidential salary if he were to be elected.
While it is required by law that the president is paid, Trump has donated his quarterly paychecks to various organizations and agencies. In 2017, the president donated his paychecks to the National Park Service, the Education Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Transportation, the Associated Press reports. Trump’s first two 2018 paychecks went to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration.
Speaker Pelosi Says the Date of the State of the Union Remains Unclear
Even though the government shutdown is officially over, the date of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address still remains unclear.
While Trump was initially scheduled to give the annual address on January 29th, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rescinded that invitation last week. At a press conference on Friday, Pelosi suggested that the address would not take place on Tuesday, and that there currently isn’t a date set, The Huffington Post reports.
“The State of the Union is not planned now. Get that,” Pelosi told reporters, saying that she and the president still need to discuss a “mutually agreeable date.”
SOTU on Tuesday? Pelosi doesn’t seem to think so: pic.twitter.com/ERpaCFrPM0
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) January 25, 2019
“What I’d said to the president is when the government is open, we will discuss a mutually agreeable date, and I’ll look forward to doing that and welcoming the president to the House of Representatives for the State of the Union when we agree on that mutually agreeable date,” Pelosi said.
The State of the Union has become a part of the back-and-forth between Pelosi and Trump during the government shutdown. Pelosi sent a letter to Trump on January 16th, saying that due to security concerns and Secret Service agents being unpaid, she wanted to reschedule the annual address to when the government was reopened, Vox reports. Trump, however, sent his own message, seeming to declare that he would still give the address regardless if the government was open or not. When Pelosi reiterated that she had shelved the invitation, Trump recognized the postponement of the address.
Although Trump has signed a bill to reopen the government, Pelosi wants to see the government back up and running again before putting the State of the Union on the calendar.
Roger Stone Says He Hasn’t Ruled Out Cooperating With Special Counsel
Roger Stone, the longtime confidant of the president who was indicted last week as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, said he hasn’t ruled out working with the special counsel.
Appearing on ABC’s This Week Sunday, host George Stephanopoulos asked, “Are you prepared to tell the truth about your dealings with [President Donald Trump] to the special counsel, the truth about your dealings with the campaign? Any chance you’ll cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller if he asks?”
“That’s a question that I’d have to determine after my attorneys have some discussion,” Stone responded. “If there’s wrongdoing by other people in the campaign that I know about, which I know of none, but if there is I would certainly testify honestly.”
JUST IN: @GStephanopoulos: “Any chance you’ll cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller if he asks?”
Roger Stone: “That’s a question I’ll have to determine after my attorneys have some discussion … I would certainly testify honestly” https://t.co/PAbc4RuByr pic.twitter.com/yTWpkkBq3F
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 27, 2019
Stone also told Stephanopoulos that he could testify honestly about any of his communications with Trump, The Huffington Post reports.
“I would also testify honestly about any other matter, including any communications with the President. It’s true that we spoke on the phone, but those communications are political in nature, they’re benign. There’s certainly no conspiracy with Russia.” Stone said.
According to CNN, Stone was indicted on seven counts Thursday by a federal grand jury, alleging that Stone spoke “to senior Trump Campaign officials” about obtaining stolen emails from WikiLeaks and “information it might have had that would be damaging” to the campaign of Hillary Clinton in the summer before the 2016 presidential election.
Stone was arrested Friday morning at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He later said that he would plead not guilty and would not “bear false witness against the President,” CNN reports.
Asked if he was cooperating with the special counsel, Stone said, “I don’t want to address that question, but I have made it clear I will not testify against the President, because I would have to bear false witness against him.”
Stone also said Sunday that the president has not suggested pardoning him.
What to look out for…
Today is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day! And I don’t know about you, but I think bubble wrap deserves all the appreciation.