August 28, 2017

Bloomberg: “Donald Trump was in a bad mood before he emerged for a confrontational speech in Arizona last week. TV and social media coverage showed that the site of his campaign rally, the Phoenix Convention Center, was less than full. Backstage, waiting in a room with a television monitor, Trump was displeased… TV optics and crowd sizes are extremely important to the president.”

“As his surrogates warmed up the audience, the expanse of shiny concrete eventually filled in with cheering Trump fans. But it was too late for a longtime Trump aide, George Gigicos, the former White House director of advance who had organized the event as a contractor to the Republican National Committee. Trump later had his top security aide, Keith Schiller, inform Gigicos that he’d never manage a Trump rally again.”

President Trump “is not happy with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, for publicly criticizing his response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. But it appears there is little he is planning to do about it, according to people who have spoken to him,” Politico reports.

“The unusually direct challenges from a Cabinet secretary and senior administration official seemed to make little more than a surface ripple in the swirling melodrama of the Trump White House, even as the president fumed privately about it.”

“Federal investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller are keenly focused on President Trump’s role in crafting a response to a published article about a meeting between Russians and his son Donald Jr.,” three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

“The sources told NBC News that prosecutors want to know what Trump knew about the meeting and whether he sought to conceal its purpose.”

“At the time, the White House confirmed that Trump had ‘weighed in’ as the response to the New York Times report was drafted aboard Air Force One on July 8 as the president returned to the U.S. from Germany. the Washington Post reported that Trump had ‘dictated’ the response.”

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) “is pushing an amendment to severely curtail special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia,” Politico reports.

“DeSantis has put forward a provision that would halt funding for Mueller’s probe six months after the amendment’s passage. It also would prohibit Mueller from investigating matters that occurred before June 2015, when Trump launched his presidential campaign.”

“Donald Trump discussed a proposal to build a hotel and condominium tower in Moscow on three occasions with his company’s lawyer, who emailed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman to ask for assistance on the project,” Bloomberg reports.

ABC News reports Trump himself signed a “letter of intent” to pursue a Trump Tower-style building development in Moscow.

Mike Allen: “The stories cast doubt on Trump’s continued assertions that he had no business dealings in Russia.”

Politico: “Donald Trump has grown frustrated with many parts of being president. But the former showbiz star is still in love with one perk: The Oval Office photo op. Despite the weight of multiple Russia investigations, open war with GOP leaders and a stalled congressional agenda, Trump has spent considerable time grinning behind the Resolute Desk, where he summons visitors from PGA star John Daly to former campaign aides to pastors, truck drivers, tech CEOs, teachers and even journalists to pose in front of the gold curtains.”

“He tells aides, from senior White House advisers to his private bodyguard, Keith Schiller, to snap the photos on cell phones, or he shouts for Shealah Craighead, the official White House photographer, to come in. The often impatient president will sometimes pose for several minutes per sitting, taking variations of a photo with a single group. He even stands with people to inspect the photos.”