Today In History: Trump Dumps Debate To Attend AIPAC; Obama Plans Reversal On AIG Bonuses

March 16, 2017, is the 75th day of the year, with 290 days remaining. The moon is in a waning gibbous phase, with illumination at 86 percent.

Donald Trump Ditches Debate for AIPAC Conference

Riding a wave of success after a series of primary election victories, placing him in a stronger position for the GOP presidential nomination, Donald Trump made an announcement on Fox News that he would not be attending the network’s debate, scheduled for that following week.

His reason?

“I’m making a very major speech in front of a very important group of people,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends.”

He later confirmed that said speech would be delivered before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and that the presentation at the lobbying group’s conference, set for Washington, D.C., had been “scheduled a while ago.”

John Kasich's campaign made clear that the then-Republican candidate would bow out of the debate if Trump didn’t attend, prompting Fox News to release a statement that the debate would be cancelled.

Barack Obama Plans to Undo Bonuses at AIG

Following the bailout of the American International Group, which racked up a cost of more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout funds from the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve, the multinational insurance corporation announced its plan to pay roughly $165 million in bonuses to executives in the same business unit that brought the AIG to the brink of collapse in 2008.

President Obama and his top economic advisers rushed to calm what nationwide furor then ensued.

“In the last six months, AIG has received substantial sums from the U.S. Treasury,” the president said. “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?”

Obama consequently ordered the Treasury Department to pursue “every single legal avenue to block these bonuses.” White House officials said the Treasury Department would recapture this bonus money by writing new requisites into a $30 billion installment of government aid scheduled to go to the ailing conglomerate.

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Photo credit: Lorie Shaull via Flickr