Trump Tells Farmers They'll Get Big Help From 'Huge Tax Cut'
NASHVILLE (CBSNewYork) -- President Donald Trump unveiled proposals to help rural economies on Monday.
He was in Nashville, Tennessee touting his tax overhaul law as beneficial for farmers.
Late Monday afternoon, the president addressed the American Farm Bureau Federation about plans for increased internet connectivity and making it easier to put cell towers on federal lands.
Trump said his 'huge tax cut' would mean big help for farmers.
"Will be able to deduct 100 percent of the cost of new equipment in the year you make the investment," he said.
His speech wasn't solely focused on farmers. The president took shots at democrats, what he calls the 'fake media,' he spoke of respecting the American flag, and again praised himself while intertwining his agenda.
"We're removing harmful restrictions on forestry, so you can log more timber, plant more trees, and export more renewable resources to other countries," he said.
In the meantime, the debate over the controversial new book 'Fire And Fury' continued.
"The people in the White House are like everyone else in the country, what's going to happen, we're here, we don't know from day to day," author Michael Wolff said.
Speaking on CBS This Morning, Wolff defended the book in which he characterizes the president as semi-literate and questioned his competence.
Over the weekend, the president slammed the book and called it 'a work of fiction.'
He tweeted, calling himself a genius, 'and a very stable genius at that."
Last week, a lawyer for the president sent a cease and desist letter to the book's publisher.
MacMillan's CEO called the attempt 'flagrantly unconstitutional' and moved the publishing date to the next day.
There were also protests outside the White House on Monday. The Trump administration ended special protections for nearly 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants.
They're being forced to leave the country by September 2019, or face deportation.
Demonstrators said it's time for Congress to make temporary protected status holders citizens.
On Monday evening, the president received a fairly warm welcome at the College Football National Championship Game Between the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia.
Meanwhile, the White House was keeping close tabs on talks between North and South Korea. For the first time in two years, both sides are meeting face to face. Most pressing is the Winter Olympics in South Korea, and whether North Korean figure skaters will be allowed to participate.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, any talks seen as easing tensions are ratcheted up by Trump's tough talk about the North's Kim Jong-un.
"If I weren't involved they wouldn't be talking about Olympics," Trump said over the weekend. "They'd be doing no talking or it'd be much more serious. He knows I'm not messing around."
An adviser to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the administration is focused on a "global pressure campaign" designed to bring the North to the table for meaningful negotiations, as the president has repeatedly held out the possibility of direct talks with the North Korean dictator.
CBS2 has also learned that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team of investigators has expressed interest in speaking with the president as part of the probe into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.
