“I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.”
— President Trump, in an interview with Reuters.
“I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.”
— President Trump, in an interview with Reuters.
Michelle Obama hit the paid-speaking circuit yesterday and spoke about leaving the White House, the Washington Post reports.
“She shared a story about her emotional final day at the White House. Her daughters were in tears as they said goodbye to the staff, and she felt herself choke up, too — but she resolved to keep her emotions hidden before the Inauguration Day cameras.”
Said Obama: “I didn’t want to have tears in my eyes because people would swear I was crying because of the new president.”
Former President Obama “made another $400,000 on Thursday when he appeared at the A&E Networks advertising upfront at The Pierre Hotel. He was interviewed over 90 minutes at the Midtown Manhattan event by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in front of the cable network’s advertisers,” the New York Post reports.
“Goodwin asked Obama how, while president, he handled frustrating moments. She mentioned Lincoln would write angry letters and then put them in a desk and not mail them.”
Responded Obama: “For starters, by not having a Twitter account.”
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Financial Times: “Sitting across from Donald Trump in the Oval Office, my eyes are drawn to a little red button on a box that sits on his desk. ‘This isn’t the nuclear button, is it?’ I joke, pointing. ‘No, no, everyone thinks it is,’ Trump says … before leaning over and pressing it to order some Cokes. ‘Everyone does get a little nervous when I press that button.'”
New York Times: “In January, Politico reported that President Trump was considering Sean Reyes, the Utah attorney general, to lead the Federal Trade Commission. Since then, donations to his political campaign have poured in from out-of-state donors and businesses that are regulated by the F.T.C.”
“Mr. Reyes, who is not up for re-election and won handily last year, received more than $113,000 in donations in the first three months of the year, far more than he received during the same period last year, an election year. Half of the new contributions came from out-of-state donors, and more than $43,000 came from first-time donors.”
“There is nothing illegal about the donations, but their timing reveals the power of the political shortlist in a city where lobbyists and businesses often place protective bets.”
President Trump “was set to announce Saturday, on the 100th day of his presidency, that he was withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement — the sort of disruptive proclamation that would upend both global and domestic politics and signal to his base that he was keeping his campaign promise to terminate what he once called ‘a total disaster’ and ‘one of the worst deals ever,'” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “I was all set to terminate. I looked forward to terminating. I was going to do it.”
“There was just one problem: Trump’s team — like on so many issues — was deeply divided.”
“I’m pro-environment, I’m pro-trade, I’m anti-debt, I’m pro-immigration, I’m pro-NATO. And when I look at the party, I see it moving in a different direction. But I’ve always said I have the right to define what it means to be a Republican and a conservative.”
— Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), in an interview with BuzzFeed, when asked if he’s still a Republican.
President Trump told Reuters that a major conflict with North Korea is possible in the standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to the dispute.
Said Trump: “There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely.”
“House Democrats are going to extreme lengths to conceal a report on the party’s problems,” Politico reports.
“After nearly five months, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) will present his investigative report to lawmakers during a members-only gathering at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headquarters Thursday night. But members are not allowed to have copies of the report and may view it only under the watchful eyes of DCCC staff.”
“Senate Democrats are exploring a lawsuit against President Trump on the grounds that his vast business empire has created conflicts of interest that violate the Constitution,” The Hill reports.
“The effort is being led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who has had preliminary discussions with several senators about the idea.”
“The tide is quickly turning against the new Obamacare repeal legislation,” The Hill reports.
“At least 21 Republicans have said they would vote no on the revised GOP healthcare bill negotiated by centrist Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) and conservative Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC)… Twenty-three GOP defections would be enough to kill House Republicans’ Obamacare repeal-and-replacement plan, assuming every House Democrat votes against it.”
Washington Post: “House Republican leaders scrambled Thursday evening to muster enough votes to bring a health-care bill to the floor this week, even though the latest changes have intensified resistance among some moderates and key industry players.”
Former first lady Michelle Obama said she would never run for political office because she “wouldn’t ask my children to do this again,” CNN reports.
Said Obama: “It’s good to not have the weight of the world upon your shoulders.”
“Despite a positive public front, congressional Republicans are quietly voicing frustration that President Trump’s big tax announcement Wednesday emanated from a disjointed process — and lacked crucial components necessary in the push to secure the first major tax reform in more than 30 years,” CNN reports.
Said one senior GOP aide: “It’s not tax reform. Not even close.”
“University of Wisconsin students who disrupt speeches and demonstrations could be expelled and campuses would have to remain neutral on public issue under a bill Republican legislators are pushing this week,” the AP reports.
“The bill comes as free speech issues have grown more contentious on college campuses across the country. Conservatives are worried that right-wing speakers aren’t given equal treatment as liberal campus presenters and some students have complained about free expression fanning racial tensions.”
President Trump “railed against Democrats’ spending demands and complained about threats of a government shutdown, even as GOP leaders in Congress neared a deal with Democrats to keep the lights on past Friday,” the Washington Post reports.
“In a series of tweets, Trump accused Democrats of threatening to close the government over a refusal to back spending increases for defense and border security despite indications that Democrats have already signed off on a GOP request for those funds. The midmorning tweetstorm suggests that Trump hopes to claim credit for an eventual deal or blame Democrats if that deal falls apart tomorrow or next week.”
In the mail: Wrestling with His Angel: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1849 to 1856 by Sidney Blumenthal.
This will be a good one.
President Trump said he “was preparing to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement in coming days but changed his mind after his counterparts in Mexico and Canada called him and asked him to instead renegotiate the pact,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
New York Times: “Many have little to do until the Trump administration starts filling the nearly 200 jobs at the department that require Senate confirmation, and their agendas look increasingly as though they will remain empty. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has done almost nothing to select leaders for the White House’s consideration, and nominations for assistant secretaries and others who largely run the State Department are unlikely to be made for months.”
“With a Senate confirmation process that takes months, that means the department will remain largely leaderless until well into 2018. And no other department in the federal government is as dependent on political appointees, or as paralyzed when the appointment process freezes.”
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.
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