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Trump Jr. Says Father Only Trusts ‘Smaller’ Group of Aides

September 11, 2018 at 6:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Amid explosive allegations that some White House officials are actively working against President Trump’s agenda, Donald Trump Jr. told ABC News the number of people in the White House that his father can trust is smaller than he’d like.”

Said Trump Jr.: “I think there are people in there that he can trust, it’s just — it’s a much smaller group than I would like it to be.”

He added: “It would be easier to get things done if you’re able to fully trust everyone around you. I think that’s a shame.”

Rick Scott Keeps Distance from Trump

September 11, 2018 at 6:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Florida Republican Rick Scott is as close as any governor with Donald Trump. Yet it’s former President George W. Bush, no friend to Trump, who will join Scott at two fundraisers for a super PAC backing Scott’s Senate campaign Friday. It’s the latest instance of the Florida governor visibly tying his political fortunes to a prominent Republican other than the current president,” Politico reports.

“Scott — who was frequently by Trump’s side at the White House and at his resorts in Palm Beach and Bedminster, New Jersey, in 2017 — began putting more distance between himself and the unpopular president this year as he geared up for a Senate run that Trump himself had repeatedly urged him to make. Scott also chaired the super PAC backing Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. Now Scott seldom mentions the president and won’t commit to having an event with him specifically.”

White Men Are In Minority of Democratic House Candidates

September 11, 2018 at 6:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A flood of women, minorities and first-time candidates is poised to radically alter the composition of Congress next year after winning Democratic primaries in record numbers in 2018,” Politico reports.

“White men are in the minority in the House Democratic candidate pool… Democrats have nominated a whopping 180 female candidates in House primaries — shattering the party’s previous record of 120, according to Rutgers’ Center for American Women and Politics. Heading into the final primaries of 2018 this week, Democrats have also nominated at least 133 people of color and 158 first-time candidates to run for the House.”

U.S. Suspects Russia Behind Attacks on Diplomats

September 11, 2018 at 6:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Intelligence agencies investigating mysterious ‘attacks’ that led to brain injuries in U.S. personnel in Cuba and China consider Russia to be the main suspect,” NBC News reports.

“The suspicion that Russia is likely behind the alleged attacks is backed up by evidence from communications intercepts, known in the spy world as signals intelligence, amassed during a lengthy and ongoing investigation involving the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. agencies. The officials declined to elaborate on the nature of the intelligence.”

Stephen Miller Condemned by Childhood Rabbi

September 10, 2018 at 10:47 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The childhood rabbi to Stephen Miller, special adviser to Donald Trump and a key architect of his “zero-tolerance” immigration policies, criticized his former charge as a purveyor of “negativity, violence, malice and brutality” who had learned nothing from his Jewish spiritual education, The Guardian reports.

Hollywood Gets Active In the Midterm Elections

September 10, 2018 at 10:38 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Hollywood’s fervor for this year’s midterm elections rivals that of recent presidential campaigns, according to Democratic donors and strategists in the Los Angeles area who say the energy is driven by a belief that a Democratic-controlled House can serve as a powerful check on President Trump.”

”People who work in the television, movie and music industry in the Los Angeles metro area have given $2.4 million to House candidate committees so far this election, with the vast majority going to support Democrats… That is the largest sum from these donors to House Democratic campaigns since at least 2008, and it’s nearly $1 million more than they gave for the 2016 elections.”

DeSantis Woos Latinos By Denouncing Socialism

September 10, 2018 at 10:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Standing between the American and Cuban flags and surrounded by faded black-and-white photos of anti-Communist combatants, Ron DeSantis did on Monday what many a Florida politician has done before: pay homage to the Cuban exiles who have remained faithful to the Republican Party for generations, the rare Latinos who vote reliably conservative,” the New York Times reports.

“But unlike his predecessors, Mr. DeSantis was not interested in talking much about Fidel Castro, who died in 2016. Instead, he warned of a new scourge in American politics: socialism, in the form of Andrew Gillum, his opponent in the state’s closely watched governor’s race.”

”Never mind that Mr. Gillum has rejected the socialist label, or that his campaign platform reflects policies espoused by many mainstream Democrats, such as raising the minimum wage and expanding Medicaid.”

Ex-Trump Aide Says He Knows Who Wrote Op-Ed

September 10, 2018 at 9:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Trump campaign staffer Michael Caputo told CNN that the author of the anonymous New York Times op-ed is a woman who is also a “coward” and “diabolical.”

Said Caputo: “I’m fairly certain I know who it is. I’ve been, you know, going through this parlor game just like everybody else has. And I’m also completely 100 percent certain that the person who wrote this is on the list of people who said they didn’t write it.”

Caputo also claimed that the White House is “getting there” on finding out who the author is.

‘The House Is Already Lost’

September 10, 2018 at 7:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Drucker: “The pendulum of political power, which historically swings against the White House during the midterms, could be especially savage this year, given the sharp dissatisfaction with Trump in America’s usually Republican-leaning suburbs. Washington’s high-powered consulting class is betting on it. The lobby shops and advocacy organizations that play both sides and thrive on proximity to power are preparing for a changing of the gavel and moving to forge connections with Democratic committee chairmen in the House beginning in January of 2019, when the 116th Congress is seated.”

Said one GOP lobbyist: “Downtown, there is a sense that the House is already lost for Republicans. There is a hiring spree for plugged-in House Democrats who want to lobby. So, downtown is already planning on the Democratic takeover; the bets are on how big the flip will be.”

One Million Copies of Woodward’s Book Printed

September 10, 2018 at 6:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Simon & Schuster said that it is printing one million copies of Bob Woodward’s new book, Fear: Trump in the White House, to keep up with reader demand, CNN reports.

The book is out tomorrow but can be pre-ordered here. The book is already the sixth biggest seller of 2018 on Amazon, thanks to pre-orders.

Daniels ‘Vigorously Opposes’ Dropping Hush Agreement

September 10, 2018 at 6:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

In court documents filed today, Stormy Daniels said she “vigorously opposes” President Trump and Michael Cohen’s attempt to invalidate the hush-money agreement that barred her from speaking out about her alleged affair with Trump.

Daniels claims that Trump and Cohen’s “sudden desire to escape” the agreement is a sign that they have been “shamelessly deceiving this Court and the American public for more than six months.”

U.S. Coordinating Second Summit with North Korea

September 10, 2018 at 5:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un requested a second meeting with President Trump, and U.S. diplomats are already working to set up the summit, Bloomberg reports.

“The request is the latest direct communication between the two leaders, who held a summit in Singapore in June and agreed that North Korea would abandon its nuclear weapons program. But Kim’s regime has shown little sign it’s moving toward denuclearization, and Trump canceled a planned trip to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month citing a lack of progress.”

Trump Approval Plummets

September 10, 2018 at 4:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new CNN/SSRS poll finds President Trump’s approval rating has dropped six percentage points in the last month, 36% to 58%.

“Among independents, the drop has been sharper, from 47% approval last month to 31% now. That’s 4 points below his previous 2018 low of 35% approval among political independents in CNN polling, and 1 point below his previous all-time low among independents in CNN polling, reached in November 2017.”

“Trump’s numbers have slipped amid the release of an op-ed in The New York Times and reports about the Bob Woodward book that will be released Tuesday. Both paint a picture of a White House in chaos, with staffers actively thwarting the President’s agenda.”

Omarosa Says Other Staffers Have Tapes Too

September 10, 2018 at 4:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Omarosa Manigault Newman told MSNBC that she’s not the only White House staffer that was recording conversations.

Said Manigault Newman: “I know that for a fact, yes.”

She added: “I don’t want to expose the person, but I had an exchange with a reporter last year. And we had a – a tape of that exchange. It was in the press secretary’s office. And someone, another staffer had recorded it for me, I didn’t know that they did, just to push back on that reporter who lied and said certain things happened and didn’t. But there was another staffer who actually recorded that exchange, not me.”

Collins Could Remain on Ballot

September 10, 2018 at 4:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“After Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) was indicted last month, the Republican from western New York seemed to leave no doubt about his immediate political future: There was none,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Collins abandoned his re-election bid in the ‘best interests’ of his district, ‘the Republican Party and President Trump’s agenda,’ after he was accused of insider trading and lying to federal agents.”

“Yet even as local Republican leaders have interviewed a slate of replacement candidates for the seat, there is a real possibility that Mr. Collins could stay on the November ballot and represent the party.”

The Last 2018 Primaries

September 10, 2018 at 3:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Nathaniel Rakich: “All good things must come to an end. After six months, 19 election days and seven live blogs, it’s time to say goodbye to primary season. But before you grieve, a parting gift: three consecutive nights of electiony goodness. On Tuesday, New Hampshire goes to the polls; on Wednesday, Rhode Island follows suit; and on Thursday, New York picks its nominees for state office.”

“I leave you with this thought: This is the last primary preview you’ll read until the 2020 Iowa caucuses.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

September 10, 2018 at 2:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“What is this damn fool doing coming out of retirement to break with the tradition of not attacking sitting presidents? That was my first thought.”

— Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (R), quoted by The Hill, on Barack Obama’s return to the campaign trail.

White House Changed Phone Policy After Omarosa Tapes

September 10, 2018 at 2:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CNN: “Going forward, staffers would not be allowed to leave their phones — even the government-issued ones — in lockers in the small entry area outside the Situation Room, as they had done for the previous 19 months of the administration. Instead, staffers were directed to go back and put their White House-issued devices in their offices or alongside their personal phones in lockers stationed near the West Wing entrances before being buzzed into the Situation Room.”

“This change was made quietly, but two senior administration officials told CNN they believed it was in direct response to the news that Manigualt Newman had taped Kelly.”