Foreign Affairs: President Trump says it’s time for the US to officially recognize Israel as the owner of the Golan Heights, breaking US policy and defying a United Nations resolution.

  “I’ve been thinking about doing that for a long time,” Trump said in an interview for Fox Business Network to air today. “Every president has said ‘do that,’” he said, “I’m the one that gets it done.”

  Trump made the announcement just days before Israeli elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s been threatened with indictment for corruption, is in danger of losing his office. Trump is a big fan. 

  Israel took the militarily strategic Golan Heights from Syria in the Arab-Israel war of 1967 and annexed it in 1981. The UN Security Council has said Israel must give up the heights, but they haven’t.

  Trump also broke with long-term policy recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, complicating peace efforts with the Palestinians. This will make it even more difficult, but he’s winning big with supporters of Israel.

Free Speech:President Trump yesterday signed an executive order threatening colleges and universities with the loss of federal money if they don’t protect free speech on campus.

  Campus speech has become a big issue among conservatives and extreme right wingers because they have been shouted down and disinvited from college campuses where only left-wingers are welcomed by students. You think the conservatives have it bad? Just talk to comedians trying to get some laughs at a college.

  Trump’s order seems to be largely symbolic, aimed at pleasing his loyal supporters. It includes no standards that would have to be met and colleges don’t have to welcome speakers of any political persuasion at all. It’s a matter of free speech.   

In a Heartbeat:Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed a law that comes close to banning abortions in his state, making them illegal in most cases after a fetal heartbeat is detected. That can be as early as six weeks, even sooner than some women know they are pregnant.

   Supporters of abortion rights say they will sue. Similar laws in Kentucky and Iowa have been struck down by the courts, but about 10 other state legislatures are considering “heartbeat” bills.

  In a signing ceremony Bryant described a heartbeat as “the universal hallmark of life since man’s very beginning.” He said, “We think that this is showing the profound respect and desire of Mississippians to protect the sanctity of that very unborn life whenever possible.”

Chromalloy Wheels:The Indonesian and Ethiopian Boeing Max 8 jets that crashed killing 346 people did not have an optional warning system the airlines decided not to buy.

  Boeing had offered an $80,000 system that would have warned pilots that the plane’s attitude control system was in failure. The warning might have helped pilots focus on the real problem, but it also appears that they didn’t know how to turn off the auto system and fly the plane themselves.

  As trouble deepens for Boeing, Indonesia’s national airline has announced that it wants to cancel its order for 49 Max 8 jets.

New Roundup:Fifty-six-year-old Cesar Altieri Sayoc of Florida pleaded guilty yesterday to mailing bombs to critics of President Trump. None of the bombs exploded, but he faces life in prison. He cried as he admitted what he did. — The personable CBS Morning Newsanchor Gaye King is reported to have agreed to a big contract to stay with the network. This might signal that her co-host Norah O’Donnell is about to replace the ho-hum Jeff Glor on the Evening News. — The European Union has agreed to give Britain an extension to May 22^ndto figure out an orderly way to exit the union. Parliament has twice voted down Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan, which would leave England with no formal relationship with the EU, a recipe for chaos. — The House Committee on Oversight has been told that President’s Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has used private email servers for White House business. The use of a private server by Hillary Clinton was what moved Trump to get his crowds chanting “Lock her up!”

Long Term:One-term President Jimmy Carter has now officially lived longer than any former president. Today is the 172nd day beyond Carter’s 94th birthday, surpassing by one day the lifespan of former President George HW Bush, who died Nov. 30 at the age of 94 years, 171 days. 

They Came from Outer Space:Still obsessed with winning the Presidency more than two years ago, President Trump in a Foxinterview said, “I had one of the greatest election victories in history, wouldn’t you say that’s true?” prompting a “yes, absolutely” from the credulous Maria Bartiromo. “They came from the valleys, they came from the rivers, they came from the cities, they came from all over, they voted in one of the greatest elections in the history of our country.”

  They also voted by a margin of three million to elect Hillary Clinton, the largest in history.

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