“As GOP leaders leaped to defend President Donald Trump’s decision to tear down the East Wing of the White House last year, one Republican lawmaker privately warned a senior White House aide that he had “substantial concerns” and demanded answers about how the decision was made,” the Washington Post reports.

Wrote Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH): “The stark images of the East Wing demolished in mere days were disturbing to Americans who cherish preservation of our nation’s history.”

“Jeanine Pirro’s office has decided to stop pursuing the case against six Democratic lawmakers who urged members of the military and intelligence communities in a social media video not to comply with unlawful orders,” NBC News reports.

Jonathan Bernstein: “First of all, these speeches never have significant effects on public opinion about the president; nor do they change minds about the president’s policy choices. Yes, even now, after decades of evidence to the contrary, we still have headlines asking whether a State of the Union address can ‘fix’ Trump’s awful ‘polling’ and articles about how ‘Trump will have the spotlight as he seeks to sell his victories and convince a skeptical public that he is indeed focused on improving their lives.'”

“We know the answer: Any hope that the speech could ‘reignite the presidency’s momentum’ when it comes to public opinion is wishful thinking.”

“If it never worked for Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama – all of whom were much better speakers, especially in this format – it’s not going to happen for Donald Trump. Especially since they at least (especially Reagan) had the advantage of a captive audience, with fewer alternatives.”

A new Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll finds President Trump at his lowest point on virtually every metric.

“Trump’s overall job approval has fallen to net -22, and he’s now underwater or tied on every single issue we track, including border security, which had been his last remaining bright spot. Democrats have opened a 10-point lead on the generic congressional ballot, the widest we’ve recorded.”

“And voters disapprove of Trump’s tariff policy — presumably his focus, according to Vance, and which was largely invalidated by the Supreme Court last week — by 21 points.”