“Everything else he’s done has been a complete disaster… He’s still learning how to be president.”
— Former Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), quoted by Fox News, saying that with the exception of foreign policy President Trump’s time in office hasn’t worked out very well.
Less than three months before former Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R-IL) scheduled release from prison, “a new accuser has come forward with allegations saying he was sodomized by Hastert decades ago,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
“The lawsuit comes nearly two years after an explosive indictment into secret hush-money payments brought down Hastert, a local coaching legend who became one of the country’s most powerful politicians. Federal prosecutors said the former U.S. House speaker touched at least five male students when he was a Yorkville High School coach from 1965 to 1981.”
“The Russian banker Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner met with in December is viewed by U.S. intelligence as a ‘Putin crony’ and a graduate of a ‘finishing school’ for spies who was often tasked with sensitive financial operations by Putin,” according to multiple U.S. officials and documents viewed by NBC News.
For members: Follow the Russian Money
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In the aftermath of a contentious Group of 7 meeting, where leaders failed to persuade President Trump to back the Paris climate accord, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said that tried and tested global alliances were no longer as reliable as they once were, citing her experience “in recent days,” the New York Times reports.
“Ms. Merkel, who is campaigning for a fourth term in the September elections, did not name the country or leader she had in mind.”
“It seemed clear, however, that she was referring mainly to the United States and Mr. Trump, who refused to commit to the goals of the 195-nation climate agreement hammered out in 2015. He has said it would be bad for the United States economy.”
French president Emmanuel Macron said his now-famous white-knuckle handshake showdown with Donald Trump was “a moment of truth” designed to show that he’s no pushover, the Guardian reports.
Said Macron: “My handshake with him, it wasn’t innocent. One must show that you won’t make small concessions, even symbolic ones, but also not over-publicize things, either.”
“At their first meeting, ahead of a Nato summit in Brussels on Thursday, the two men locked hands for so long that knuckles started turning white. The French leader held the shake for a few seconds more. Both men’s jaws seemed to clench.”
President Trump, back from a nine-day overseas trip, wasted little time on Sunday morning turning his Twitter account back into a political weapon as he assailed what he called the “fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media,” the New York Times reports.
“While Mr. Trump largely avoided provocative Twitter posts during his journey through the Middle East and Europe, he returned to social media soon after arriving at the White House on Saturday night, pushing back against a flurry of news reports stemming from investigations into contacts between Russia and his associates, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.”
“President Trump has privately told multiple people, including EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, that he plans to leave the Paris agreement on climate change,” Axios reports.
“Pulling out of Paris is the biggest thing Trump could to do unravel Obama’s climate policies. It also sends a stark and combative signal to the rest of the world that working with other nations on climate change isn’t a priority to the Trump administration. And pulling out threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal, given how integral former President Obama was in making it come together in the first place.”
Washington Post: “Some White House aides have discreetly discussed among one another whether Kushner should play a lesser role — or even take a leave — at least until the Russia-related issues calm, but they have been reluctant to discuss that view with Kushner himself, and Kushner’s network of allies within the West Wing has rallied behind him.”
“Those close to Kushner said he has no plans to take a reduced role, though people who have spoken to him in recent weeks say that he is increasingly weary of the nonstop frenzy.”
From the Los Angeles Times:
Trump’s image as an outsider continued in Italy on Friday at the G-7 meeting in Taormina, Italy, where the distance between Trump and the others was as much physical as political. The presidents, chancellor and prime ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom walked the streets of Taormina.
Trump followed in a golf cart.
Ryan Lizza: “One of the overlooked aspects of yesterday’s news that the F.B.I. is interested in Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, is that Kushner played a role in the firing of James Comey, the former F.B.I. director. Kushner is not formally a target of the F.B.I.’s sprawling investigation, but I was reminded of his role in Comey’s removal while discussing Kushner with a person close to Comey. The former F.B.I. director is known to have drafted a series of memos about his interactions with Trump, and—importantly—with other White House and Administration officials. Whether Kushner is mentioned in the Comey memos is not known.”
“Some of the commentary about these Comey memos has suggested that they were simply personal notes that weren’t shared widely at the F.B.I. That is not the case.”
Said a source close to Comey: “The Bureau has them all. They’ve always had them all. That’s another thing that people sort of missed the point of. These memos weren’t just some personal little effort on the part of Jim. He was the tip of the operation, and knew it, and really felt accountable to the rest of the people around him to tell them what is going on and help them be a part of the decision-making on what he should say and do.”
“The whole discussion on the topic of climate was very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory. Here we have a situation of six against one, meaning there is still no sign of whether the US will remain in the Paris accord or not.”
— German chancellor Angela Merkel, quoted by Al Jazeera.
President Trump “headed home on Saturday to confront a growing political and legal threat, as his top aides tried to contain the fallout from reports that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is a focus of investigations into possible collusion between Russia and the president’s campaign and transition teams,” the New York Times reports.
“The White House canceled a presidential trip to Iowa in the coming days and was putting together a damage-control plan to expand the president’s legal team, reorganize his communications staff and wall off a scandal that has jeopardized his agenda and now threatens to engulf his family.”
Also interesting: White House counsel Donald McGahn “has been increasingly uneasy in his role since Mr. Trump ignored his advice to delay Mr. Comey’s dismissal.”
“Amid mounting questions at the White House about Russia, three prominent members of President Trump’s family — his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and Eric’s wife, Lara — have ramped up their engagement with the Republican Party’s national political operation, having met privately with GOP leaders to share their concerns and outlook,” the Washington Post reports.
“Their appearance at the RNC irked at least two prominent Republicans who were briefed on the session, who wondered whether it was appropriate for the president’s sons, who run the Trump family real estate business, to be highly involved in discussing the party’s strategy and resources.”
Former acting CIA director John McLaughlan responded to reports that Jared Kushner “discussed setting up a secret communications line between Trump’s transition team and the Kremlin, saying if such reports are true, it would be considered espionage,” The Hill reports.
Said McLaughlan: “I don’t want to overstate this because obviously there is a lot we don’t know… But I can’t keep out of my mind the thought that, if an American intelligence officer had done anything like this, we’d consider it espionage.”
Mike Allen: “A hot theory is that Trump can’t clean house because those inside know too much to be let go, and outsiders (beyond old campaign hands) can’t be trusted with what they’d learn.”
Politico: “Now that Trump’s current and former aides and allies officially know a probe exists, they’re responsible for preserving all available information that might be relevant. That’s a task complicated by the rise of auto-delete apps like Confide, Signal and WhatsApp, as well as the move his campaign staffers have made into the White House.”
“Hanging over them all: any failure to keep track of emails, messages and other records could expose them to criminal charges down the line.”
Taegan 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.