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Archives for May 2017

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Trump Gives Cell Phone Number to World Leaders

May 30, 2017 at 10:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump “has been handing out his cellphone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the U.S. commander in chief’s communications,” the AP reports.

“Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cellphone, according to former and current U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said.”

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs, White House

Divided White House Waits for Trump’s Climate Decision

May 30, 2017 at 10:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A divided White House staff, anxious corporate executives, lawmakers and foreign leaders are fiercely competing for President Trump’s ear this week as he nears a decision on whether to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, the landmark agreement that commits nearly every country to combat global warming,” the New York Times reports.

“For a president not steeped in policy intricacies, the decision is vexing. On both sides are voices he profoundly respects: chief executives of some of the world’s largest companies urging him to remain part of the accord and ardent conservatives like Stephen K. Bannon, his chief strategist, and Scott Pruitt, his Environmental Protection Agency administrator, tugging him toward a withdrawal from the 195-country agreement.”

Politico: Trump’s climate conundrum faces a verdict.

Filed Under: Environment

Putin Denies Meddling in U.S. Election

May 30, 2017 at 4:28 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says the allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election are “fiction” invented by the Democrats in order to explain their loss, the AP reports.

Said Putin: “People who lost the vote hate to acknowledge that they indeed lost because the person who won was closer to the people and had a better understanding of what people wanted.”

Trump made a similar claim in a tweet earlier today.

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Vladimir Putin


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Stephen Miller In High School

May 30, 2017 at 3:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Vice News: “It’s the unofficial position of Vice News that anyone under 18 is allowed to be an asshole. Saying outrageous things to test the limits of authority and social acceptance is as crucial to growing up as bad haircuts and regrettable T-shirt slogans… So we debated whether to publish this video of Stephen Miller, the 31-year-old senior aide to President Donald Trump. In the video, a high school–aged Miller jokingly calls torture ‘a celebration of life and human dignity,’ and adds that cutting off the fingers of Saddam Hussein and his cronies is the ‘ideal solution’ to America’s involvement in Iraq.”

“Given Miller’s importance as a national figure, we decided that his statements within the video are instructive in understanding Miller.”

Filed Under: White House

Trump Interviews Pistole for FBI Chief

May 30, 2017 at 2:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump is expected to interview John Pistole, former No. 2 at the FBI and previous head of the Transportation Security Administration, to take over as FBI director,” USA Today reports.

“Pistole is under consideration to replace James Comey, who was fired by the president earlier this month as he was running the FBI investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Pistole worked at the FBI from 1983 until 2010, serving in his final six years as deputy director under Robert Mueller.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: John Pistole

The Madness Behind the Trump Handshake

May 30, 2017 at 12:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

HuffPost: “If you want to better understand Donald Trump ― his presidency, his approach personal diplomacy, even his psyche ― simply follow his hands.”

“Those hands, and their unexceptional digits, have been the source of immense insecurity, prompting him to lash out at critics and boast about his genitalia. They give insights into his marriage for the way they search ― ever so subtly and often unsuccessfully ― for his wife’s embrace. They tell us about his comfort in office as he attempts to find his footing on the world stage. And they illustrate his preoccupation with imagery and the role it plays in advancing his agenda.”

“The Trump handshake has become most unique greeting in all of politics.”

Filed Under: White House

Russia Investigation Expands to Include Trump Lawyer

May 30, 2017 at 12:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“One of President Donald Trump’s closest confidants, his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, has now become a focus of the expanding Congressional investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 campaign,” ABC News reports.

Cohen confirmed that House and Senate investigators have asked him “to provide information and testimony” about any contacts he had with people connected to the Russian government, but he said he has turned down the invitation.

Said Cohen: “I declined the invitation to participate as the request was poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Michael Cohen, Russia

Jerry Springer Urged to Run for Governor

May 30, 2017 at 11:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Influential Ohio Democrats are pushing former Cincinnati mayor and daytime-TV host Jerry Springer to run for Ohio governor in 2018,” Business Insider reports.

“Many said Springer, who sought the Democratic nomination for governor of Ohio in 1982 and remains active in state politics, could be a good fit for the current political climate.”

Springer’s previous run resulted in an extraordinary ad where he admitted to paying a prostitute.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: Jerry Springer, OH-Gov

Trump Has Already Proved Himself a Russian Asset

May 30, 2017 at 11:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Chait: “Over the last several days, the Russia scandal has taken a darker turn. Friday night, the Washington Post reported that Jared Kushner tried during the presidential transition period to set up a secret communications channel with Moscow. Tuesday morning, CNN reported that, during the 2016 campaign, Russian officials discussed having leverage of a financial nature over Trump, which could be used to manipulate the Republican nominee. The exact nature of this relationship remains as yet unknown, but its parameters have shifted. The most innocent explanations of Donald Trump’s shadowy relationship with Russia have grown increasingly fanciful, while the most paranoid interpretations have grown increasingly more plausible.”

“Indeed, in another one of dramatic juxtapositions that would have seemed ham-handed in a spy thriller, the latest scandalous revelations came out just as Trump could be seen carrying out what looks for all the world like his end of a pact with Moscow. If the president did have an objective on his trip to Europe — a premise that, it goes without saying, cannot be assumed — it was to crack up the American alliance with Western Europe. That happens to have been Russia’s primary diplomatic objective since the end of World War II.”

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs Tagged With: Russia

Risk of Government Default Is Much Higher This Time

May 30, 2017 at 10:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

The Trump administration is urging lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling by the end of July — much sooner than previously expected.

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Filed Under: Budget & Taxes, Members

The Problem with Family in the White House

May 30, 2017 at 8:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rick Klein: “Office politics is a dangerous game when played White House style. A week that figures to be dominated by talk of staff changes and revamped teams has a twist: the problem-child staffer is the boss’ son-in-law – whom the president has expressed ‘total confidence in.’ Different rules apply when it comes to family, and the latest news on Jared Kushner would be complicated enough without the entanglements and conflicts-of-interest that the Trump family approach to the presidency invites.”

“What’s been alleged about Kushner and the Russians is inexplicable behavior, until or unless Kushner (whose voice has almost never been heard in public) explains himself. So yes, that explanation would fall to the embattled communications team – the one that people outside the White House are telling President Trump is failing him. This highlights what that team is up against: a series of overlapping scandals that keep expanding to add new players and circles – and in this case, reaching into an innermost circle. When you overlay a shakeup plan on that reality, you realize the problems aren’t with – and certainly aren’t exclusively with – those who can be fired.”

Filed Under: White House

Russians Claimed to Have Dirt on Trump

May 30, 2017 at 6:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Russian government officials discussed having potentially ‘derogatory’ information about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and some of his top aides in conversations intercepted by US intelligence during the 2016 election,” CNN reports.

“One source described the information as financial in nature and said the discussion centered on whether the Russians had leverage over Trump’s inner circle. The source said the intercepted communications suggested to US intelligence that Russians believed ‘they had the ability to influence the administration through the derogatory information.'”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign

Trump Communications Director Leaving

May 30, 2017 at 6:20 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Mike Dubke, President Trump’s communications director, is leaving the White House — the start of a wave of changes as the West Wing struggles to cope with burgeoning scandals and a stalled agenda,” Mike Allen reports.

“Dubke served for just three months before tendering his resignation May 18. He offered to stay through the overseas trip, and Trump accepted. He has been trying to help restructure the press and communications operation, and is parting on good terms… Insiders say Dubke came in with few patrons, and never gelled with the originals. His departure is a reminder of how hard it is for newcomers to thrive in Trumpland.”

Filed Under: White House

From Duke to Trump’s West Wing

May 30, 2017 at 6:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Vanity Fair profiles White House adviser Stephen Miller:

One former Duke student remembers Miller’s behavior in class more than she does his political views. In a freshman history course about the American Revolution, she recalls, “Just right away, he’d just walk in, put his head down, and go to sleep.” After giving Miller a few good-natured warnings, the professor kicked him out. “He’s got that sleepy-eyed, sloe-eyed look, but he’s just saying ‘Fuck you’ to the world,” she says.

Filed Under: White House

Nunes Says Russia Investigation Is Just Excuse

May 30, 2017 at 6:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Embattled House Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) “told hundreds of local Republicans at a recent private dinner fundraiser that congressional investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election are about Democrats trying to justify Hillary Clinton’s loss,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Said Nunes: “They want to continue the narrative that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are best friends, and that’s the reason that he won, because Hillary Clinton would have never lost on her own; it had to be someone else’s fault.”

He added: “They have tried to destroy this Russia investigation, they’ve never been serious about it, and one of the great things now that I’ve stepped aside from this Russia investigation, I can actually say what I want to say.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Devin Nunes, Russia

Pence Hits the Road to Prep for Midterms

May 30, 2017 at 5:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Vice President Mike Pence “is embarking on a cross-country summer campaign tour amid rising fears that the GOP, reeling from a barrage of Trump-fueled controversies, is headed for a midterm election disaster,” Politico reports.

“Pence is mapping out a schedule that will take him through several Midwestern battlegrounds and to traditionally conservative southern states like Georgia, where an unexpectedly competitive June special election runoff is alarming party strategists… The push comes at a time of growing consternation among senior Republicans who say the White House has given them little direction on midterm planning. Many complain that they do not even know who to contact about 2018 in an administration that has been consumed by chaos.”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: Mike Pence

Investigation Turns to Kushner’s Motives

May 29, 2017 at 9:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jared Kushner “was looking for a direct line to President Vladimir Putin of Russia — a search that in mid-December found him in a room with a Russian banker whose financial institution was deeply intertwined with Russian intelligence, and remains under sanction by the United States,” the New York Times reports.

“Federal and congressional investigators are now examining what exactly Mr. Kushner and the Russian banker, Sergey N. Gorkov, wanted from each other. The banker is a close associate of Mr. Putin, but he has not been known to play a diplomatic role for the Russian leader. That has raised questions about why he was meeting with Mr. Kushner at a crucial moment in the presidential transition.”

“The meeting came as Mr. Trump was openly feuding with American intelligence agencies and their conclusion that Russia had tried to disrupt the presidential election and turn it in his favor.”

For members: Follow the Russian Money

Filed Under: White House

Trump Plans to Dismantle Civil Rights Efforts in Agencies

May 29, 2017 at 9:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration is planning to disband the Labor Department division that has policed discrimination among federal contractors for four decades, according to the White House’s newly proposed budget, part of wider efforts to rein in government programs that promote civil rights,” the Washington Post reports.

“The proposal to dismantle the compliance office comes at a time when the Trump administration is reducing the role of the federal government in fighting discrimination and protecting minorities by cutting budgets, dissolving programs and appointing officials unsympathetic to previous practices.”

Filed Under: White House

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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