Daily Archives

September 9, 2017

14 posts · Saturday

Trump Looking at Deploying ‘Mini-Nukes’

September 9, 2017 at 6:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration is considering proposing smaller, more tactical nuclear weapons that would cause less damage than traditional thermonuclear bombs — a move that would give military commanders more options but could also make the use of atomic arms more likely,” Politico reports.

“Approval of such weapons — whether designed to be delivered by missile, aircraft or special forces — would mark a major reversal from the Obama administration, which sought to limit reliance on nuclear arms and prohibited any new weapons or military capabilities. And critics say it would only make the actual use of atomic arms more likely.”

A Billionaire’s Ambition

September 9, 2017 at 6:28 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Out next week: Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition by Chris McNickle.

“The story of how one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs was elected mayor of New York City and what he did with the power he won.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

September 9, 2017 at 2:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House has been more productive than any Congress in the modern era.”

— Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), in an interview with Fox News.

$100K on Facebook Ads Could Go a Long Way

September 9, 2017 at 1:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Kevin Bingle: “One common response to the news that a Kremlin-linked online operation in Russia bought $100,000 worth of Facebook ads during the 2016 election campaign has been that the money is a drop in the bucket relative to the more than $1 billion spent on ads during the cycle, or the $27 billion in revenue earned by Facebook last year.”

“But as one of a handful of Americans who managed the digital operations of a 2016 presidential campaign, I think $100,000 smartly spent on Facebook could have a much larger reach than you may realize. And more importantly, nobody — not the political pros, or the advertising gurus — truly knows how far a message spreads when Facebook is paid to promote it. The social network still contains many mysteries, even to those pouring millions into it.”

For members: Russian Facebook Ads Were a Rounding Error

You Can’t Spell America Without Me

September 9, 2017 at 1:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Out this fall: You Can’t Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump (A So-Called Parody) by Alec Baldwin and Kurt Andersen.

Bonus Quote of the Day

September 9, 2017 at 12:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It makes all of their normalizing and ‘Trumpsplaining’ look silly and hollow. Trump betrays everyone: wives, business associates, contractors, bankers and now, the leaders of the House and Senate in his own party. They can’t explain this away as a 15-dimensional Trump chess game. It’s a dishonest person behaving according to his long-established pattern.”

— GOP strategist Rick Wilson, quoted by the Washington Post, on his party’s congressional leaders.

Special Offer for New Members

September 9, 2017 at 12:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

The authors of Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs, and Washington Handshakes — which was partially inspired by my Political Dictionary — have offered copies of their book as a bonus to those who sign up today for an annual membership.

Act quickly as there are a limited number of copies.

Membership gets you exclusive analysis, new features and no advertising. It’s just $50 a year.

Republicans Struggle to Control Their Own Agenda

September 9, 2017 at 11:04 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “The debt and spending bill approved by Capitol Hill on Friday averted imminent fiscal disaster, but it’s added more misery for a Republican Party whose agenda has floundered even with unified control of Washington for the first time in a decade. It’s also given Democrats significant leverage to imperil tax reform, the GOP’s best hope at a major legislative victory.”

“Rather than dictating the agenda of Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers oftentimes find themselves at the whims of a capricious White House, Democrats in the minority and a calendar that’s getting increasingly packed ahead of campaign season next spring. Speaker Paul Ryan predicted in January that tax reform, Obamacare repeal and a border wall would all be done by now. Instead, Obamacare repeal may be completely dead at month’s end, there are just broad strokes on tax reform and many Republicans oppose the border wall being pushed by their own president.”

Trump Rattles His Party

September 9, 2017 at 11:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Republicans fear that Mr. Trump has relinquished his role as leader of the party, instead assuming the mantle of his own political movement. And they are bracing for an election season in which their deeply unpopular president does more to undermine than aid candidates of the party he ostensibly oversees.”

“Such open divisions between a president and elected officials of the same party mark an extraordinary departure from modern political tradition. Even if they feuded at times with their president, lawmakers knew they could ultimately count on the White House to endorse and raise money for incumbents, because controlling as many seats as possible would serve both their interests.”

Key takeaway: “Republicans fear a wave of retirements going into next year. Rep. Dave Trott of Michigan is considering retiring, and another Michigan Republican, Fred Upton, may retire or run for the Senate, according to multiple party officials.”

Will the New Trump Stick?

September 9, 2017 at 10:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A Trump adviser tells Mike Allen that after a tumultuous seven months in office, it had finally dawned on the president: “People really fucking hate me.”

“For someone who has spent his life lapping up adulation, however fake, it was a harsh realization. This is a man with an especially acute need for affirmation. This week’s bear hug of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer opened Trump’s eyes to one solution: Stop doing things that people hate, and start striking deals.”

An important point: “But we can’t overstate the level of despair among Republicans.”

Key Trump Advisers at Odds

September 9, 2017 at 10:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “OMB Director Mick Mulvaney was thrashed by his former House Republican colleagues yesterday in a closed door meeting, GOP lawmakers called Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin a Democrat and scoffed at his requests and Gary Cohn is still on the outs with President Donald Trump. Those are the three people most intricately involved in tax reform, which the White House wants done by the end of the year.”

Politico: “Rumors of Gary Cohn’s demise in Donald Trump’s White House have swirled for weeks. But Cohn is intent on remaining with the administration to finish tax reform — though it’s unclear how long he would stay beyond its passage.”

Trump Freezes Out Gary Cohn

September 9, 2017 at 7:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The New York Times reports:

Mr. Kelly made a point, one staff member said, of throwing his arm around Mr. Cohn in solidarity, in full view of the news media, as they exited Marine One last week on the South Lawn.

But he has not always been successful. Several aides said Mr. Trump is freezing out Mr. Cohn by employing a familiar tactic: refusing to make eye contact with Mr. Cohn when his adviser greets him.

Quote of the Day

September 9, 2017 at 7:55 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Joe Biden said the Democratic Party in 2016 ‘did not talk about what it always stood for — and that was how to maintain a burgeoning middle class.’ I find this fairly remarkable, considering that Joe himself campaigned for me all over the Midwest and talked plenty about the middle class.”

— Hillary Clinton, quoted by CNN, from her new book What Happened.

Hope Hicks Lawyers Up

September 9, 2017 at 7:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“White House communications director Hope Hicks has retained a personal attorney, as the special counsel’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia is expected to heat up this fall,” Politico reports.