{"id":5172,"date":"2017-12-31T16:15:10","date_gmt":"2018-01-01T00:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=5172"},"modified":"2018-01-03T16:16:09","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T00:16:09","slug":"2017s-top-ten-news-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=5172","title":{"rendered":"2017’s top ten news stories"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The last year was extraordinary when it comes to news \u2014 chiefly because of one person:\u00a0President Trump<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s actions, from his Twitter account to his executive actions to the various controversies that swirled around the White House, dominated headlines throughout the year.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look back at the biggest 10 stories of the year, many of which had something to do with the U.S. president.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Donald Trump\u2019s presidency.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Trump presidency itself is the biggest story of the year.<\/p>\n

    Since inauguration day, Trump has been the top story of the year, and he has seemingly delighted in providing copy for the nation\u2019s media \u2014 even as he has feuded with them.<\/p>\n

    The day after the inauguration, White House press secretary\u00a0Sean Spicer<\/a><\/span>slammed news reports that suggested inauguration crowds were not the largest in history \u2014 a point refuted by photographic evidence.<\/p>\n

    The performance was a sign of what was to come.<\/p>\n

    A week later, Trump announced a ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations, sparking an uproar that continued for months.<\/p>\n

    The initial weeks of the year featured large protests against the new president. Marches on Washington became weekly events.<\/p>\n

    White House aides surrounding the president became celebrities themselves, from Spicer and counselor\u00a0Kellyanne Conway<\/a><\/span>\u00a0to former White House strategist\u00a0Stephen Bannon and Anthony \u201cthe Mooch\u201d Scaramucci, whose career as White House communications director was short-lived.<\/p>\n

    In a normal year, Scaramucci\u2019s tenure and Bannon\u2019s firing \u2014 to say nothing of the firing of former White House chief of staff\u00a0Reince Priebus<\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u2014 might have been their own entries on this list.<\/p>\n

    Not this year. It all leaves one wondering what year two of the Trump presidency will bring.<\/p>\n

    Trump himself took credit for stimulating the news business in an interview Thursday with The New York Times, predicting that he\u2019ll win reelection in 2020 because without him, \u201call forms of media will tank.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The president may be right, but he\u2019ll want to improve his approval ratings by then. The constant controversy appeared to make its mark.<\/p>\n

    As of Dec. 29, Trump sits at 39.3 percent in the Real Clear Politics average of polls.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Trump fires FBI Director\u00a0James Comey<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Trump\u2019s abrupt decision to\u00a0fire FBI Director James Comey in May<\/a>\u00a0was the stunner of the year.<\/p>\n

      It rocked Washington and threw into uncertainty the ongoing investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.<\/p>\n

      It also led to one of the most dramatic congressional hearings in U.S. history, when Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence panel in June. Much of the nation stood transfixed, with bars filling in the middle of the day so that people could watch.<\/p>\n

      Comey\u2019s ouster set into motion a series of events, including the appointment of former FBI Director\u00a0Robert Mueller<\/a><\/span>\u00a0as special counsel to head up the criminal investigation into Russian interference. Some Trump loyalists see the firing as Trump\u2019s biggest mistake, because it birthed the Mueller probe.<\/p>\n

      The reverberations will be felt in 2018, and perhaps for a lot longer.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. The Trump tax cuts are passed<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Trump got a huge Christmas present from the GOP Congress when it passed a sweeping $1.5\u00a0trillion tax bill days before the holiday.<\/p>\n

        It capped a difficult year in Congress, but many of the disappointments were forgotten\u00a0following\u00a0the tax bill\u2019s passage, the biggest such legislation to be approved since the Reagan era.<\/p>\n

        Households and businesses across the country will be affected by the legislation, which chopped the corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.<\/p>\n

        It was also a huge victory for Speaker\u00a0Paul Ryan<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader\u00a0Mitch McConnell<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(R-Ky.).<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. ObamaCare repeal fails as McCain casts dramatic, deciding vote.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Congressional Republicans scrambled all summer to repeal ObamaCare.<\/p>\n

          But in an early morning July vote on a slimmed-down version of a repeal bill, Sen.\u00a0John McCain<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(R-Ariz.) sided with Sens.\u00a0Susan Collins<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(R-Maine),\u00a0Lisa Murkowski<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(R-Alaska) and the chamber\u2019s Democrats in\u00a0rejecting the measure<\/a>, throwing a wrench into the GOP\u2019s efforts to do away with former President Obama\u2019s signature health-care law.<\/p>\n

          McCain did so in the most dramatic way possible.<\/p>\n

          Days earlier, he had returned to Washington after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. In a speech on the Senate floor, the Arizona Republican admonished his party for abandoning\u00a0what he called \u201cregular order\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in its pursuit of an ObamaCare repeal.<\/p>\n

          As the clock ticked down to the Senate vote, all eyes were on McCain, whose decision remained unclear until the very end. He eventually signaled his vote with a thumbs-down gesture as McConnell looked on. The vote failed, 51-49.<\/p>\n

          The GOP did repeal ObamaCare\u2019s individual mandate as part of the tax vote. McCain supported that bill, but missed the vote as he continued to battle his cancer diagnosis and his colleagues contemplated his future.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Charlottesville<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Trump\u2019s words blaming \u201cboth sides\u201d for the violence in this Virginia college town last August between white supremacists and those protesting\u00a0them led to criticism of the president from most of his party \u2014 a low point for the White House.<\/p>\n

            Trump offered his take hours after a 32-year-old woman named Heather Heyer was killed after a man drove a car through a crowd marching against white supremacists.<\/p>\n

            A few days later at Trump Tower, he doubled down, stunning Republicans.<\/p>\n

            \u201cI think there’s blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about that,\u201d Trump said on\u00a0Aug. 15.<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Mueller indicts Manafort and Flynn<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              For months, Mueller worked behind the scenes, with little if anything leaking out about his team\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n

              Then, in October, came the sudden news that former Trump campaign chairman\u00a0Paul Manafort<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and one of his associates,\u00a0Richard Gates, had been indicted\u00a0on charges of money laundering, among other things.<\/p>\n

              Even bigger news dropped minutes later when court documents revealed that\u00a0George Papadopoulos<\/a><\/span>, a former foreign policy adviser to Trump\u2019s campaign, had pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents and was now cooperating with the probe.<\/p>\n

              Weeks later came even worse news for Trump. Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, also\u00a0pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI<\/a>\u00a0and was cooperating with Mueller.<\/p>\n

              The indictments and guilty pleas have everyone, from the White House to Congress to the nation, wondering what will come next.<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Sexual harassment rocks the political world.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                The #MeToo movement unleashed by the storm surrounding movie mogul Harvey Weinstein hit Washington in December when Sen.\u00a0Al Franken<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(D-Minn.), who had been considered a presidential contender, and Rep.\u00a0John Conyers<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Jr. (D-Mich.), the longest-serving member of the House, both resigned\u00a0after allegations of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n

                Rep.\u00a0Trent Franks<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(R-Ariz.) also resigned after it became public that he had discussed the possibility of female staffers serving his his surrogate.<\/p>\n

                Two other members, Reps.\u00a0Ruben Kihuen<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(D-Nev.) and\u00a0Blake Farenthold<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(R-Texas), have announced\u00a0they will not run for reelection\u00a0after\u00a0allegations of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n

                As December closed, many lawmakers were wondering who would be next.<\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. Democrats win Alabama Senate seat after\u00a0Roy Moore<\/a><\/span>\u00a0controversy<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Democrat\u00a0Doug Jones pulled off a stunning win<\/a>\u00a0in Alabama\u2019s special Senate election on Dec. 12, capping off a bitter race marked by sexual misconduct allegations against Republican Roy Moore.<\/p>\n

                  With his narrow victory over Moore, Jones became the first Democrat to be elected to the Senate in Alabama in 25 years.<\/p>\n

                  Moore, an insurgent former Alabama Supreme Court justice, was largely considered the favorite to win after\u00a0defeating\u00a0incumbent Sen.\u00a0Luther Strange<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(R-Ala.) in the state\u2019s GOP runoff in September. Strange had been backed by both McConnell and Trump.<\/p>\n

                  But allegations emerged in November that Moore pursued sexual and romantic relations with teenage girls when he was in his 30s, prompting calls by many Republican officials and lawmakers for Moore to withdraw from the race.<\/p>\n

                  Moore rebuffed those pleas, and denied the allegations against him, insisting that they were politically motivated. In the days before the election, he received a boost from Trump, who offered him a full-throated endorsement.<\/p>\n

                  But Jones ultimately emerged victorious over Moore, propelled by a strong turnout among black voters. The Democratic victory dealt a blow to Bannon, the Breitbart News chief and former White House chief strategist, who backed Moore in the race.<\/p>\n

                    \n
                  1. Trump\u2019s travel ban<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    President Trump introduced his controversial travel ban just one week after taking office, sparking widespread protests fueled by social media at airports across the country after several refugees were detained.<\/p>\n

                    The ban, which called for the U.S. to restrict travelers from selected Muslim-majority countries, triggered a court battle that lasted throughout the year.<\/p>\n

                    But on Dec. 4, the Supreme Court provided the president with a major victory by granting the administration\u2019s request to fully reinstate a revised version of his travel ban.<\/p>\n

                    The ban will now likely be an issue in the midterms \u2014 and in the presidential race of 2020.<\/p>\n

                      \n
                    1. Gorsuch is confirmed to the Supreme Court.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      More than a year after Obama nominated Judge\u00a0Merrick Garland<\/a><\/span>\u00a0to fill the vacancy left by the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, Trump had his own pick, Neil Gorsuch,\u00a0confirmed to the court<\/a>.<\/p>\n

                      Gorsuch\u2019s confirmation amounted to one of Trump\u2019s biggest wins of his first year in office. It was also a huge win for McConnell, who devised the strategy to block Obama\u2019s pick.<\/p>\n

                      Gorsuch was just one of Trump\u2019s judicial appointees. In his first year in office, the real estate mogul has filled seats on federal courts across the country with conservative judges, reshaping the judiciary for decades to come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

                      TAGS\u00a0SUPREME COURT<\/a>\u00a0JUSTICE DEPARTMENT<\/a>\u00a0SPECIAL COUNSEL’S OFFICE<\/a>\u00a0GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS<\/a>\u00a0KELLYANNE CONWAY<\/a>\u00a0BLAKE FARENTHOLD<\/a>\u00a0MITCH MCCONNELL<\/a>\u00a0MERRICK GARLAND<\/a>\u00a0LISA MURKOWSKI<\/a>\u00a0LUTHER STRANGE<\/a>\u00a0ROBERT MUELLER<\/a>\u00a0REINCE PRIEBUS<\/a>\u00a0SUSAN COLLINS<\/a>\u00a0PAUL MANAFORT<\/a>\u00a0DONALD TRUMP<\/a>\u00a0TRENT FRANKS<\/a>\u00a0RUBEN KIHUEN<\/a>\u00a0JOHN CONYERS<\/a>\u00a0JOHN MCCAIN<\/a>\u00a0SEAN SPICER<\/a>\u00a0JAMES COMEY<\/a>\u00a0AL FRANKEN<\/a>\u00a0ROY MOORE<\/a>\u00a0PAUL RYAN<\/a>\u00a0RUSSIA INVESTIGATION<\/a>\u00a0HEALTH CARE<\/a>\u00a0AFFORDABLE CARE ACT<\/a>\u00a0RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN THE 2016 UNITED STATES ELECTIONS<\/a>\u00a0POLITICS OF THE UNITED STATES<\/a>\u00a0DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN<\/a><\/div>\n
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