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Trump May Hold Summit with Xi

February 10, 2019 at 6:18 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump’s advisers have informally discussed holding a summit at his Mar-a-Lago resort next month with Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to end the U.S.-China trade war, Axios reports.

“It doesn’t appear that the U.S. and China have made much progress, so far, on the biggest structural issues that Trump has promised to conquer. These include China’s rampant theft of U.S. intellectual property, forced transfer of U.S. technology and trade abuses that China’s leaders have used to grow their economy at America’s expense.”

Walter Jones Is Dead

February 10, 2019 at 6:14 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Walter Jones Jr. (R-NC), who made it his mission to atone for his vote sending U.S. troops into Iraq in the early 2000s, died Sunday on his 76th birthday, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.

Washington Post: “Jones began his tenure on Capitol Hill as a staunch conservative and voted in 2002 to authorize military action against Iraq. He came to view the invasion as a mistake, and sought to do his penance by writing to the relatives of every deceased U.S. service member, one heart-wrenching letter at a time.”

Steve Schmidt Stormed Off His Own Podcast

February 10, 2019 at 6:03 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Steve Schmidt, who is advising former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on an independent presidential bid, abruptly walked off his own podcast when co-host Adam Levine pressed him on how Schultz could actually get the 270 electoral votes he needed to win, the Daily Beast reports.

SCHMIDT: This is bullshit. I’m not doing this.

LEVINE: Steve, you’ve got to answer the questions.

SCHMIDT: I’m not.

And with that, Schmidt slammed down his headset and abruptly ended the interview.

“He threatened legal action against the studio if the interview airs, according to a source involved in the discussion. When his legal threat failed, he offered to buy the recording… The studio refused.”

Many Stunned to Get Smaller Tax Refunds

February 10, 2019 at 5:24 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Millions of Americans filling out their 2018 taxes will probably be surprised to learn that their refund is less than expected or that they owe money to the Internal Revenue Service after years of receiving refunds,” the Washington Post reports.

“People have already taken to social media, using the hashtag #GOPTaxScam, to vent their anger… The uproar comes after President Trump and congressional Republicans passed a major overhaul of the tax code in December 2017, the biggest legislative achievement of the president’s first year.”

Klobuchar Admits She Can Be Tough on Staff

February 10, 2019 at 5:19 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Shortly after announcing her presidential bid on Sunday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) offered a defense against the recent reports that she has consistently mistreated members of her staff, the HuffPost reports.

Said Klobuchar: “Yes, I can be tough, and yes I can push people. I have high expectations for myself, I have high expectations for the people that work for me, but I have high expectations for this country.”

Mulvaney Expects Schedule Leaker to Be Caught Soon

February 10, 2019 at 5:18 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told Fox News that he expects to know who leaked three months of President Trump‘s daily schedule by as early as the end of this week. But that doesn’t mean anybody will be fired.

Said Mulvaney: “When we find that person or persons, and it’s likely to be a career staffer, you’re going learn a lot about how hard it is to fire federal workers.”

Klobuchar Jumps Into Presidential Race

February 10, 2019 at 4:13 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) “leapt into the 2020 presidential race Sunday, becoming the first Midwestern state official to join the field taking on President Trump,” Politico reports.

Washington Post: “Klobuchar took pains to portray herself as someone who, with experience at the local and federal levels, would bring competence to the White House, contrasting that with the current environment of chaos and shutdowns in Washington.”

Nate Silver: “As compared to candidates such as Harris and O’Rourke, who might hope to blitz their way to victory on the basis of strong fundraising and early delegate accumulation in California and Texas, Klobuchar is probably playing a long game. But doing so requires hitting two important mile markers. First, success in the debates. And then a strong performance in the Iowa caucuses.”

Mulvaney Says Wall Will Be Built Regardless of Congress

February 10, 2019 at 2:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said that, whatever Congress may or may not propose in a border security compromise, President Trump will get his wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, USA Today reports.

Said Mulvaney: “The president is going to build the wall… this is going to get built with or without Congress.”

The congressional negotiations on border security are currently stalled as another government shutdown looms.

Warren Suggests Trump Might Be In Prison Before Election

February 10, 2019 at 2:42 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told voters that President Trump might be unable to finish his term, firing back at him for the first time since his reelection campaign attacked her rollout, the Washington Post reports.

Said Warren: “By the time we get to 2020, Donald Trump may not be president. In fact, he may not even be a free person.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

February 10, 2019 at 2:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I think he’s clinging to a rhetorical strategy that was very powerful when he was coming of age 50 years ago, but it’s just a little bit different right now,”

— South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, on CNN, dismissing President Trump’s efforts to portray Democratic policies as “socialist.”

Trump Says He Works More than Past Presidents

February 10, 2019 at 2:25 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump defended his use of “Executive Time,” arguing that it’s “a positive” and he works “very long hours.”

Said Trump: “When the term Executive Time is used, I am generally working, not relaxing. In fact, I probably work more hours than almost any past President.”

Bennet Hints He’ll Join Presidential Race

February 10, 2019 at 12:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) “had a message for fellow Democrats this weekend as two more White House contenders formally jumped into the 2020 presidential race: Don’t forget about me,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Bennet: “We’ve got a million people that are going to run, which I think is great. I think having one more voice in that conversation that’s focused on America’s future, I don’t think would hurt.”

Trump Says Democrats Want a Shutdown

February 10, 2019 at 12:27 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump blamed Democrats for what lawmakers described as stalled negotiations on border security funding.

Said Trump: “I don’t think the Dems on the Border Committee are being allowed by their leaders to make a deal. They are offering very little money for the desperately needed Border Wall & now, out of the blue, want a cap on convicted violent felons to be held in detention!”

Trump added that Democrats “want a shutdown” to change the subject after “a very bad week.”

Democratic Dirt Comes Early

February 10, 2019 at 11:55 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Mike Allen: “Democratic campaigns are secretly shopping dirt on their primary rivals much earlier than usual, reflecting the high stakes of surging or sinking quickly with so many people running so early.”

“One reason this underground game has begun so quickly is that most of the announced Democratic candidates serve in the Senate together. So the open attacks may come later.”

“That leaves an opening for the campaign staffs to quietly stir mischief in the media about the records, foibles and biographies of their opponents.”

Michael Cohen Had His Own Political Aspirations

February 10, 2019 at 11:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “No one in the billionaire’s coterie was more enthusiastic than Cohen about the prospect of a Governor Trump. Albany, Cohen believed, was a great opportunity not only for his boss but also, as it happened, for himself.”

“After the meetings, Cohen would adjourn to his office at Trump Towerto plan next steps with Michael Caputo, the Republican strategist plotting Trump’s gubernatorial campaign. But Cohen surprised Caputo by talking about his own political aspirations.”

“He told Caputo he had always wanted to run for mayor of New York City, a race he said he could win if Trump was governor. At one point, Cohen floated the idea of a Trump-Cohen statewide ticket, an idea Caputo considered as absurd as Cohen running for mayor.”

Wall Street Freaks Out About 2020

February 10, 2019 at 11:39 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Top Wall Street executives would love to be rid of President Trump. But they are getting panicked about the prospect of an ultraliberal Democratic nominee bent on raising taxes and slapping regulations on their firms,” Politico reports.

“The result is a kind of nervous paralysis of executives pining for a centrist nominee like Michael Bloomberg while realizing such an outcome is unlikely from a party veering sharply to the left.”

Billionaires Flooded GOP Coffers Just Before Tax Cuts

February 10, 2019 at 11:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Mother Jones: “From the time the tax bill was first introduced on Nov. 2, 2017, until the end of the year, a 60-day period, dozens of billionaires and millionaires dramatically boosted their political contributions unlike they had in past years, giving a total of $31.1 million in that two months, a Center for Public Integrity analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics found.”

“The Center’s analysis found that 144 wealthy donors, some household names and some behind-the-scenes, contributed at least $50,000 to Republicans and conservative groups in that time frame. For 87 of those, three out of five, the surge of giving at year’s end reflected a marked change in their giving behavior.”

“Most telling, say campaign finance experts, is that 25 wealthy donors gave all their 2017 money in the final two months of the year, the first time they did so during the previous four off-election years—2009, 2011, 2013, 2015.”

Border Talks at Impasse as Shutdown Looms

February 10, 2019 at 11:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Bipartisan talks aimed at resolving the border wall dispute and averting a government shutdown Friday have broken down and are at an impasse,” the Washington Post reports.

“Lawmakers had been trading offers, trying to finalize how much money could go to barriers along the border as President Trump demands money for his wall. Trump has called for $5.7 billion, but lawmakers were trying to find a number between $1.3 billion and $2 billion that would be acceptable to both sides.”

“At the same time, Democrats were trying to limit the number of detention beds that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency would have access to. Democrats want to cap detention beds as a way to limit aggressive detention activities by ICE.”

Politico: “Although lawmakers were optimistic going into the weekend about reaching a border security deal and funding the government past Feb. 15, negotiators are now discussing a stopgap Homeland Security bill.”