US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order designed to kick-start the construction of a wall along the US border with Mexico.
He's also poised to take additional actions later this week to limit immigration into the United States from several countries with predominantly Islamic populations.
The President's use of Executive Orders to deliver on the policy pledges he made on America's campaign trail has delighted his supporters and horrified his opponents.
In his "Washington Notebook" our US correspondent Simon Marks takes a look at what's going on behind the scenes.
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President Donald Trump wants you to know he is a man of action.
This week here in Washington, the most dangerous place to find yourself is between the President and the Executive Orders he is rushing to sign.
There has been a flurry of them: .he's cut funding to international groups that perform abortions or counsel people about them….he has revived two separate oil pipelines that were killed off during the Obama administration….he has terminated US participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership- that huge free trade negotiation with Asia-Pacific nations….and of course he has kick-started the process of building a wall between the US and Mexico.
And then there are Presidential decisions that are announced on Twitter…an investigation into voter fraud, despite the fact that no credible evidence exists to support the President's contention that it's widespread.
And a threat to send federal authorities to Chicago to combat a crime wave…..though the response of the city's police chief to the President was concise: "I have no idea what he's talking about" he said.
On the face, thought, of it there is an enormous amount going on here.
But let's pause for a moment and remind ourselves: America is not a one-man government.
The constitution says the President's role is simply to propose legislation….it's up to Congress to pass it and fund it….or not, depending on the view of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives.
So what is going on here?
Well in keeping with the President's long-standing practice of dominating the news agenda, the heat that he's generating is obscuring a bit of light that we might all otherwise be talking about.
Consider this: the President's investigation into voter fraud could start right in the White House.
It's emerged that his top adviser, Stephen Bannon - formerly of the conservative website Breitbart News - is himself registered to vote in two states: Florida and New York.
So is the President's own daughter, Tiffany Trump….in her case it's New York and Pennsylvania.
Each voted only once in the Presidential election, though….which only further underscores the fact that errors on the country's voter rolls do not translate into millions of illegal aliens voting for Hillary Clinton as the President has claimed.
There's one other bit of news that has largely slipped through the net this week: if you want to become a member of the President's exclusive golf club, Mar-a-Lago in Florida….you should have done it before the election.
Then, the initiation fees were only 100 thousand dollars.
Now, you'll need 200 thousand bucks to cross the threshold.
Oh, but I hear you say….that's ok….the President has separated himself from his business empire.
Well it turns out that process hasn't quite been completed yet.
Perhaps the action man in the White House has just been too busy;
SOC
President & Chief Correspondent
Feature Story News
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Websites: www.featurestory.com and www.simonmarks.com
Twitter: @simonmarksfsn <http://www.twitter.com/simonmarksfsn>