Barely 24 hours earlier, Donald Trump had stood in the company of the world’s Muslim leaders and declared, “If we do not act against this organized terror, then we know what will happen.” And late Monday night, to everyone’s horror, it did. In a terrifying scene at the Manchester Arena, the president’s words played out in the worst attack on British soil in 12 years. In an instant, the lives of hundreds of people were changed forever — casualties of the unspeakable evil making its slow march across Europe.

Biding his time until the last song at the Ariana Grande concert, a suicide bomber walked slowly to the foyer and detonated, slaughtering 22 innocent people and wounding or violently amputating 120 more. Like a horror movie, the crowd moved through the chaos of blood-splattered floors desperately looking for their loved ones. “I saw children hysterically crying and panicking. One man was carrying a young girl in his arms,” said one eyewitness. A homeless man, compelled to head back into danger, held an injured woman until she died. “I haven’t stopped crying,” he said. His heart, like the rest of the Western world’s, was in a familiar state: shattered.

Even today, parents are frantically searching for their missing teenagers as the president’s words come hauntingly back: “Peaceful societies will become engulfed by violence. And the futures of many generations will be sadly squandered.” It was a sober exclamation point on an otherwise historic trip for Trump, who was the first sitting president to fly from Saudi Arabia to Israel. Standing next to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Trump didn’t mince words. “The terrorists and extremists and those who give them aid and comfort must be driven out from our society forever. This wicked ideology must be obliterated.” It was a bold statement considering the tension with Abbas’s “government,” which has financed its own share of senseless violence. “Can you imagine growing up in a country where your government will pay you for killing someone else through a terrorist act?” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said. But that’s the uncomfortable reality of the Palestinian Authority.

Still, Trump and Abbas seemed to have a productive meeting in which the Palestinian leader pledged to “keep the door open” to talks with Israel. “It’s not easy,” President Trump said of the elusive peace both sides are seeking. “I’ve heard it’s one of the toughest deals of all.” To most people, though, the highlight of the trip was Trump’s visit to the Holy Land, where he started rebuilding the bridge burned by eight years of Obama’s hostility. Being on the receiving end of two years of insults, hot mics, and devastating policies hasn’t exactly been a picnic for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, with a friend in the White House, America’s greatest ally can get back to national security problem-solving with its U.S. friends. “We understand each other,” Netanyahu said of Trump. And, more than that, they respect each other — an ingredient that was clearly missing from the rocky Obama-Netanyahu years.

In private and public moments, Trump was a walking contrast from his predecessor. At the Western Wall, cameras snapped pictures of the solemn visit — the first ever by a sitting president. He stood silently, tucking a prayer deep in one of the Wall’s cracks. Afterward, he had heartfelt words for the country so often overlooked by the last administration.

“On my first trip overseas as president, I have come to the sacred and ancient land to reaffirm the unbreakable bond between the United States and the state of Israel.” A bond that, fortunately, has withstood the severest of tests. “There may not have been a ram’s horn,” Michael Rosen pointed out, “but Trump’s visit — setting aside politics and scandals — boldly heralded Israel’s return.”

Originally published here.

Making Cents of Trump’s Budget

One of the biggest selling points of Donald Trump’s candidacy was his business experience. Now, as head of the largest company he’s ever managed — the federal government — the longtime real estate mogul is trying to make America financially solvent again. It’s a tall task, even for someone of Trump’s experience. But yesterday, he rolled out his vision for ending the decades of debt and taxpayer waste with his first White House budget.

Building on the one-pager it released last month, the White House put teeth behind its promise to stop the economic bleeding. Under the president’s plan, the budget would balance in 10 years — thanks, in large part, to some overdue cuts in discretionary spending and tax and welfare reforms. “This is, I think, the first time in a long time that an administration has written a budget through the eyes of the people who are actually paying the taxes,” White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters. Republicans will be thrilled to see that Trump is giving our troops a much-anticipated boost after eight years of living off a shoestring budget that shrunk the Army to World War II levels. As he promised, the president hiked defense spending by almost a half-trillion dollars, while at the same time slashing non-defense spending by a whopping $1.6 trillion. That wipes out a huge piece of the federal deficit without compromising American security.

Pro-lifers couldn’t be happier to see that the budget builds on Trump’s already long list of accomplishments — with proposals to do everything from defunding Planned Parenthood in programs like Medicaid (which the Obamacare repeal bill would accomplish) to slashing its funding from Title X “family planning” programs. When our experts combed through the text earlier, they noticed that the $101 million in teen pregnancy prevention funds was missing — suggesting that Trump is hoping to totally eliminate it. That would be great news for conservatives, who’ve seen from the government’s own studies how ineffective the Left’s message has been. Even better, the administration wants to focus on sexual risk avoidance (abstinence) education. Like a lot of conservatives, we were happy to see the president embrace the approach, especially after new research has shown the incredible benefits for teenagers — in all areas of life. The budget also proposes eliminating international family planning by $523 million and ending funds to UNFPA, currently funded at $32 million for “population control” efforts overseas.

In a positive shift from the previous administration, Trump’s budget defunds the controversial DC assisted suicide measure. It also ends the outrageous option of elective abortion for illegal immigrants under a new ICE provision that also gives conscience protections to the agency’s employees. The biggest prize, the end of the abortion era for Global Health Programs, carves out another $523 million, which usually pays for drugs and devices that can destroy human life. Add that to the debate over paid leave for parents, and Trump has delivered what could be one of the most family- and wallet-friendly plans in recent memory. How far it gets will be up to Congress — and all of us.

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.