Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement
Author profile
Jennifer Harper

Jennifer Harper

jharper@washingtontimes.com

Jennifer Harper wrote the daily Inside the Beltway column for The Washington Times.

Articles by Jennifer Harper

President Trump will hold his 18th rally in the state of Michigan on Thursday when he speaks in front of 12,000 people in Grand Rapids. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Trump returns to Michigan for mega MAGA rally

After a week of drama, President Trump will be on friendly, enthusiastic turf when he appears at a Make America Great Again rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday -- his 18th rally in the state and an ideal event for the president and a huge audience. Some 12,000 people are expected, according to local officials.

March 27, 2019
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough predicts that the media will continue to cover "collusion," though a poll says the public may be uninterested. (MSNBC)

Inside the Beltway: Still clinging to those collusion bombshells

The news media now sits all dressed up with nowhere to go, now that the Mueller investigation has had a finale of sorts. What now? Well, there's always the 2020 election, of course, and ongoing wars over money, the southern border, overseas intrigue, the fate of Obamacare and the battle between the young upstarts and establishment politicians. Yes, there's that. But the thrill, apparently, is gone.

March 26, 2019
President Trump faces a wall of reporters and photographers during a brief question and answer session on the White House lawn. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Mueller coverage: The ‘worst journalistic debacle’ of all

Analysts already are wondering if there will be a Mueller "bounce" in President Trump's favorability ratings following his promising victory in the Russian collusion matter. That could happen. Or maybe not. One thing is for sure, though. The news media — which already suffers from lousy poll numbers — won't get much bounce after a two-year history of producing outrage, melodrama and false narratives based around Robert Mueller's investigation of the president.

March 25, 2019
American Israel Public Affairs Committee CEO Howard Kohr speaks at the AIPAC Policy Conference, which draws 18,000 to Washington this week for a "celebration" of the U.S-Israel partnership. (AIPAC)

Inside the Beltway: Who’s at the AIPAC Policy Conference?

Noise and turmoil may still engulf in the nation's capital following revelations about Robert Mueller's investigation of President Trump. There is work and productivity underway across town at the AIPAC Policy Conference, the largest gathering of the nation's pro-Israel community staged by American Israel Public Affairs Committee — AIPAC. The three-day event is deemed a "celebration" of the U.S.-Israel partnership, and it draws a bipartisan crowd.

March 24, 2019
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump depart a local church service on a recent Sunday, bound for the White House. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: 59% of Americans give thumbs down on Trump impeachment

The single word "impeachment" is a big talking point among Democratic strategists. Some analysts appear obsessed by the idea, musing over the prospect non-stop. Public interest in the impeachment of President Trump, however, is waning according to a new poll from none other than CNN. The survey found, in fact, that almost 6-out-of-10 of the respondents - 59 percent - said they do not believe Mr. Trump should be "impeached and removed from office." This finding is up by 9 percentage points since December when the network conducted a similar poll.

March 21, 2019
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shares his plans for the state, and his strategy to make them happen during a speech in Fort Lauderdale. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Ron DeSantis shows how it’s done

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has borrowed a page from President Trump's playbook. He has become the proverbial man of action in his state, wrangling the big items on his to-do list — such as a ban on sanctuary cities — while shoring up his state's environmental policy, of concern to voters from both parties.

March 19, 2019
Happy Birthday: On Tuesday, C-SPAN celebrates 40 years of relentless but unbiased coverage of Congress, the White House and U.S. politics. (C-SPAN)

Inside the Beltway: Muscular media: C-SPAN turns 40

Consistency, a relentless work ethic and a calling to do good are not frequent values in a media marketplace ruled by fickle ratings and advertising dollars. Those traits continue to flourish at C-SPAN, which turns 40 on Tuesday.

March 18, 2019
Presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke won journalists' admiration when he leaped atop a lunch counter in Iowa on Thursday to make a point. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Some critics are ready to veto Beto O’Rourke

Journalists continue to wallow in admiration for Beto O'Rourke, who jumped into the White House race surrounded by adoring words just about everyone else in the press -- except those who favor certain Democrats who already have entered the White House race. "Betobuzz" and "Betomania" lingers among those who can't quite get over Mr. O'Rourke's cool and casual mien, or the moment he leaped atop a lunch counter in an Iowa coffee shop to make a speech.

March 14, 2019
Judicial Watch has filed more FOIA requests since 2001 than any nonprofit in the nation says Tom Fitton, president of the watchdog. (Judicial Watch)

Inside the Beltway: Judicial Watch: The nation’s FOIA champion

One conservative government watchdog is a busy place indeed. Judicial Watch leads the nation's nonprofit organizations in the number of Freedom of Information Act lawsuits it has filed during the last 17 years. So says the FOIA Project, a Syracuse University research program which tracks those requests and who makes them.

March 13, 2019
President Trump with first lady Melania Trump take a moment to wave, just outside the West Wing of the White House. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: A poll of 53,408 GOP voters has promising news for Trump

There are polls, and then there are jumbo polls, such as the type Morning Consult conducts on a regular basis. In the age of data-driven political strategy, the pollster routinely surveys thousands of registered U.S. voters each day on pivotal election questions, and tracks the trends from month to month.

March 12, 2019