White House Releases Letter From President Trump to New York Senator Chuck Schumer - And an Analysis by Chris Cillizza

Source:  The Mercury News :  via The White House  -  Updated  3 April 2020 at 9:16 am EDT

"White House Releases Trump's 'Very Nasty' Letter to Chuck Schumer

   The White House released a letter in which President Donald Trump attacked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in starkly personal terms - just moments after the president told reporters that "this is not the time for politics." 
   His staff made public the letter to Schumer in which Trump blasted the New York Democrat's request for more streamlined leadership in mandating production to support the COVID-19 response.
   Trump apparently attempted to keep the letter from being sent out after speaking with Schumer on the telephone Thursday afternoon. 
   Schumer's office told CNN that the president admitted to the senator that he had written a "very nasty letter" to him and "he would try to stop it from going out and would apologize to Senator Schumer if he didn't stop it in time."
  Following is the text released by the White House:

'Dear Senator Schumer:
   Thank you for your Democratic public relations letter and incorrect sound bites, which are wrong in every way.
   As you are aware, Vice President Pence is in charge of the Task Force.  By almost all accounts, he has done a spectacular job.
   The Defense Production Act (DPA) has been consistently used by my team and me for the purchase of billions of dollars' worth of equipment, medical supplies, ventilators, and other related items.  It has been powerful leverage, so powerful that companies generally do whatever we are asking, without even a formal notice.  They know something is coming, and that's all they need to know.
   A "senior military officer" is in charge of purchasing, distributing, etc.  His name is Rear Admiral John Polowczyk.  He is working 24 hours a day, and is highly respected by everyone.  If you remember, my team gave you this information, but for public relations purposes, you choose to ignore it.
   We have given New York many things, including hospitals, medical centers, medical supplies, record numbers of ventilators, and more.  You should have had New York much better prepared than you did, and as Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx said yesterday, New York was very late in its fight against the virus.  As you are aware, the Federal Government is merely a back-up for state governments.  Unfortunately, your state needed far more of a back-up than most others.
   If you spent less time on your ridiculous impeachment hoax, which went haplessly on forever and ended up going nowhere ( except increasing my poll numbers), and instead focused on helping the people of New York, then New York would not have been so completely unprepared for the "invisible enemy."  No wonder AOC and others are thinking about running against you in the primary.  If they did, they would likely win.
   Fortunately, we have been working with your state and city governments, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill DeBlasio, to get the job done.  You have been missing in action, except when it comes to the "press."  While you have stated that you don't like Andrew Cuomo, you ought to start working alongside him for the good of all New Yorkers.
   I've known you for many years, but I never knew how bad a Senator you are for the state of New York, until I became President.
   If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.  Or, in the alternative, call Rear Admiral Polowczyk.

  Sincerely yours,
Donald J. Trump
   President of the United States of America '  "


Source:  CNN Politics -  Analysis by CNN's Chris Cillizza, Editor-at-large - Updated 3 April 2020 at 12;59 pm  EDT

"The 11 Wildest Lines From Donald Trump's Utterly Childish Letter to Chuck Schumer

   On Thursday afternoon - moments before he urged people to take politics out of the COVID_19 fight - President Donald Trump sent an absolutely unbelievable letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
   The letter, which the White House released (an my producer Alli Gordon transcribed!) reads like a sort of Mad Libs you might fill out and leave in the locker of your 7th grade enemy.  It makes abundantly clear that Trump is annoyed with Schumer's push for a more robust federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic and angry at the New York Democrat's push for White House trade adviser Peter Navarro to be replaced as the coordinator of the Defense Production Act.
   According to Schumer, Trump called him Thursday afternoon and said he had tried, unsuccessfully, to keep the letter from being sent. 
   I went through the letter - it's about a page and a quarter - and pulled out the lines you need to see.  ** Note from BND - see the entire letter above. **  They are below:

1.  "Thank you for your Democrat public relations letter and incorrect sound bites, which are wrong in every way."
    "Democrat."  -  And away we go!

2.   "Vice President Pence is in charge of the Task Force.  By almost all accounts, he has done a spectacular job."
      This is classic Trump stuff here.  Pence is receiving rave reviews "by almost all accounts."  In fact, many people are saying the vice president is doing the best job of leading the coronavirus task force that anyone has ever done.  Spectacular!

3.  "The Defense Production Act (DPA) has been consistently used by my team and me for the purchase of billions of dollars' worth of equipment, medical supplies, ventilators, and other related items."
      Trump signed the DPA more than a week ago but there were a number of questions as to whether he would actually use it - because he kept saying it was a worst-case move and warned that it reeked of socialism.

4.  "We have given New York many things, including hospitals, medical centers, medical supplies, record numbers of ventilators, and more." 
      "I have neither the time, or the inclination, to explain myself to a man, who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner, in which I provide it.  I'd rather you just say 'thank you' and go on your way."  -  Colonel Nathan Jessup

5.  "As you are aware, the Federal Government is merely a back-up for state governments.  Unfortunately, your state needed far more of a back-up than most others."
     The fault, as always, lies with someone other than Trump.  See, Schumer should be grateful for anything he gets from Trump - because New York did so poorly in preparation.  See, it all make sense.  Right?  Right?!?!

6.  "If you spent less time on your ridiculous impeachment hoax, which went haplessly on forever and ended up going nowhere ( except increasing my poll numbers), and instead focused on helping the people of New York, then New York would not have been so completely unprepared for the "invisible enemy." "
     We're back to impeachment!  Also, there is zero indication that the impeachment trial had any significant effect on the ability of Schumer or anyone else to be prepared (or not) for the coming coronavirus.  As The Washington Post's Philip Bump details, the trial ended on February 5 and in the months of February and March, Trump himself "visited Mar-a-Lago three times, his hotel in downtown Washington once, and his hotel in Las Vegas for a three-day stay in late February."

7.  "No wonder AOC and others are thinking about running against you in the primary.  If they did, they would likely win."
      There's very little evidence that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is planning a primary challenge to Schumer in 2022.  In fact, the only person who is talking regularly about this is - wait for it - Donald Trump!

8.  "You have been missing in action, except wjen it comes to the 'press.' "
      Why, why, WHY is the word press in quotes in the letter?  My kingdom for an answer to this eternal question.  (Related note:  I don't  have a kingdom.  More of a fiefdom.)

9.  "While you have stated that you don't like Andrew Cuomo, you ought to start working alongside him for the good of all New Yorkers."
      I dug around the internet for some evidence that Schumer said he didn't like the New York governor, but couldn't find it.  (Maybe Trump knows something I don't.)  The closest I came was the fact that Cuomo was sharply critical of the $2 trillion economic stimulus bill that Schumer negotiated with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin late last month.

10.  "I've known you for many years, but I never knew how bad a Senator you are for the state of New York, until I became President."
       Look, we've known each other for a long time now.  But it's only of late I have realized how terrible you are at , well, life.  -  Worth noting:  Schumer won re-election with 71% of the vote in 2016.

11.  "If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call."
       You're the absolute worst!  Call anytime!

This feels like a good place to end. "