Trump Says He Refused to Approve $1 Billion Jerusalem Embassy

[Swordsmyth]

President Donald Trump (https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/id/1252249) said he rejected a proposal to build a new U.S. embassy to Israel in Jerusalem for $1 billion, and instead the U.S. will spend less than half a million dollars to open the facility next month.
“The papers were put before me to sign an application for more than $1 billion to build an embassy,” Trump said Friday at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House. “I had my name half-signed and I noticed the figure and I never got to the word ‘Trump.”’
The president said he called the ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, and asked about the expenditure. Friedman, Trump said, told him “I can build it for $150,000” by renovating part of an existing U.S. property in Jerusalem, and “instead of 10 years from now, we can open it up in three months.”
Trump said he authorized spending $300,000 to $400,000. “It’s going to be beautiful and it could be somewhat temporary,” he said.

More at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-27/trump-says-he-refused-to-approve-1-billion-jerusalem-embassy

[Zippyjuan]

He told that story back in March- but with different numbers. $195,000 would be minimum cost to get the existing building ready to move to. But he still intends to build a completely new one in addition to that- and it could indeed cost between $400 million and $ 1 billion.

From the OP:


Trump said he authorized spending $300,000 to $400,000. “It’s going to be beautiful and it could be somewhat temporary,” he said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/04/27/parsing-trumps-story-about-saving-more-than-999-million-on-building-an-embassy-in-jerusalem/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0e70f9131377


To a casual observer, that story can be summarized as follows: A plan to spend $1 billion on an embassy got to Trump’s desk, and he noticed the price and balked. Instead, the ambassador to Israel suggested using an existing site for which the cost would be only $150,000. Trump suggested a bit more than that be spent but that the plan move forward. The result? A beautiful facility upholding Trump’s pledge to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for 0.04 percent of the planned price.

But this, it seems, isn’t really what happened.

First of all, Trump has told this story before. In early March, during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump made the same claim about being presented with a $1 billion bill that he rejected. At that point, Trump said the actual cost would be $250,000, not $400,000.

Second, Trump’s depiction of what’s happening appears to glamorize the reality. To speed the process of transitioning from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the United States will be upgrading an existing facility in Jerusalem. The New York Times reported in February that the first phase — the phase that would be complete in the three-month window mentioned by Trump on Friday — would be to “carve out some office space for Ambassador David M. Friedman and a small staff.” Then, by the end of 2019, the existing compound will be expanded to increase the available office space. In order to meet a May timeline, the Israeli government fast-tracked permitting to build a new wall and escape route at the compound.

In the meantime, the Times reported, the government will still be looking for a site for a permanent home to the embassy. (Trump notes that the existing solution is temporary but quickly glosses over it.)

When Trump told the story in March, the White House press corps asked press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders what he was describing when he mentioned spending only $250,000.

“I’ll have to get more specifics,” Sanders replied. No additional specifics appear to have been forthcoming. Sanders continued: “I think the point he’s making is that he’s going to do it faster and far less expensive than a billion-dollar project, as was projected.”

Well, sort of. Let’s say you need somewhere to live and plan to build a house. You estimate that building that house will cost you $250,000. In the meantime, you rent a studio apartment for $400 a month. If you’re still planning on building that house, you didn’t save $249,600, you just postponed spending it — and no matter how nice you make your rental apartment, it’s probably not going to have the bells and whistles of your completed house.

Perhaps this plan to build out the existing compound in Jerusalem will end up being the permanent, long-term solution, and the total cost — presumably higher than $400,000 once the additional office space is built — will come far short of $1 billion. But here Trump seems to be trying to have his cake and eat it, too. Either you’re going to spend millions or hundreds of millions of dollars on a new, ground-up facility, or you’re not. You don’t get to claim credit for saving money by going with a short-term solution if you’re still planning on spending a ton of money on a long-term one.

As for the thing about Trump getting halfway into signing his name before he stopped? A reminder to always read documents before you sign them.

[enhanced_deficit]

He told that story back in March- but with different numbers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/04/27/parsing-trumps-story-about-saving-more-than-999-million-on-building-an-embassy-in-jerusalem/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0e70f9131377

Could that be mathematical error or are you questioning integrity of a sitting POTUS?

Since then, facts on the round have also changed, that could potentially impact financial policy also in retaliation for killing large number of civilian protesters of other races.

32 Palestinian protesters killed over the past week and at least 200 injured on Friday by Israeli gunfire (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?521116-Do-you-think-Nikki-Haley-should-discuss-killing-of-32-Palestinian-protesters-by-Israel&p=6613645&viewfull=1#post6613645)


Israeli forces kill four Palestinians, wound 955 at Gaza protest

Four Palestinian protesters killed and more than 950 wounded as Israeli forces again open fire at Gaza border.

April 28, 2018
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/israeli-forces-kill-palestinians-wound-955-gaza-protest-180427170725104.html







Related

How much trust do you put in current President's statements? (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?521272-How-much-trust-do-you-put-in-current-President-s-promises-and-statements&)

[Zippyjuan]

Could that be mathematical error or are you questioning integrity of a sitting POTUS?





Trump loves to exaggerate. He is a salesman after all.

[enhanced_deficit]

Trump loves to exaggerate. He is a salesman after all.

As long as you are not implying that he's just a salesman, public relationing officer for bankers/money baggers/wars profiteers lobbies etc and not denying his role as final decider of policy & controller of purse strings, we can leave it here.