WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) – White South Africans coming to the U.S. as refugees might get a biography of President Donald Trump for kids as a part of a welcome packet proposed final week by an administration official, emails reviewed by Reuters confirmed.
The guide — “Donald Trump Biography for Youngsters: An Inspirational Story of One among America’s Most Well-known Presidents” — was steered by Fred Cooper, a Trump appointee serving as deputy assistant secretary in a division of the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers, in keeping with a December 8 inner electronic mail reviewed by Reuters.
The 89-page biography, designed for kids ages 8 to 12, portrays the Republican president as an inspirational determine whose life “is a masterclass in willpower, resilience, confidence, and dreaming massive.”
Cooper additionally steered the welcome packet embody a biography of Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president. Trump has praised Jackson, a fellow populist, though Jackson has confronted historic criticism for proudly owning slaves and driving Native Individuals from their lands.
“I think about these books wouldn’t be a problem?” Cooper stated within the electronic mail, linking to the Trump and Jackson biographies. The e-mail didn’t say what the U.S. authorities may pay for the biographies.
HHS and Cooper didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Peter W. Stevenson/The Washington Put up by way of Getty Pictures
The deliberate welcome packet, if finalized, would assist Trump’s effort to convey hundreds of white South Africans to the U.S. as refugees. This system has provoked backlash from the South African authorities and refugee teams.
Trump froze refugee admissions from around the globe after taking workplace in January however weeks later launched an effort to herald European-descended Afrikaners from majority-Black South Africa. Trump has stated these folks had been victims of race-based violence and discrimination, claims the South African authorities strongly denies.
On Wednesday, South African authorities stated they might deport Kenyans who had been contracted to work on the U.S. refugee program, saying they had been utilizing improper visas.
Refugees up to now have acquired supplies explaining U.S. historical past and tradition, however they don’t usually promote particular presidents or ideologies, three veteran refugee staff stated.
The Trump biography recounts his childhood in New York Metropolis and successes and failures as a businessman, together with the chapter of his lavish Taj Mahal on line casino and resort in Atlantic Metropolis.
The guide consists of outstanding moments from Trump’s 2017-2021 presidency, from building of a wall alongside the U.S.-Mexico border to efforts to fight COVID-19.
In a chapter entitled “Challenges and Controversies,” it broaches Trump’s two impeachments by the U.S. Home of Representatives, together with his message to supporters to “struggle like hell” earlier than they stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“The occasions of January 6 and the following impeachment trial had been among the many most contentious moments of Donald’s presidency, sparking debates about accountability, free speech, and the way forward for American democracy,” it reads.
The guide is revealed by EverNest Press, whose solely on-line presence Reuters might discover was on Amazon, with no out there contact info. EverNest Press can also be listed because the writer. Amazon didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Cooper additionally proposed the welcome packet embody “The 1776 Report,” revealed in January 2021 as Trump ended his first time period in workplace. The report, the product of a presidential fee convened by Trump, criticizes insurance policies that promote range.
The HHS official additionally really useful together with a report on non secular freedom by the Household Analysis Council, a conservative group. That report highlights authorized battles by American enterprise individuals who refused to serve same-sex {couples}, together with a Colorado baker who received a case earlier than the U.S. Supreme Court docket in 2018.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Further reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Enhancing by David Gregorio)
