“I’ve lost all trust in Durbin.”
— President Trump, in an interview with Reuters, blaming Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) for leaking details of an immigration meeting when the president called certain nations “shitholes.”
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On the Cusp of Obesity
Slate notes one result from President Trump’s medical exam “was conspicuously abnormal: the president’s body mass index.”
“At 6’3” and 239 pounds, Trump’s BMI is 29.9, exactly 0.1 units shy of one big league distinction: obesity. Remarkably, the president was found to be exactly 1 pound lighter than a weight that would have pushed him over the edge to receive the diagnosis of obesity. Similarly, if he were merely 1/10 of an inch shorter, he would also be considered obese.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I guess they all realized they were going to have to leave it to a president that scored the highest on tests.”
— President Trump, in an interview with Reuters, blaming his three immediate predecessors for failing to resolve the North Korea crisis, a day after his doctor gave him a perfect score on a cognitive test.
Kelly Says Some of Trump’s Pledges Were ‘Uninformed’
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told Democratic lawmakers that the United States “will never construct a physical wall along the entire stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border and some of President Trump’s campaign promises on immigration were ‘uninformed,'” the Washington Post reports.
“The comments put Kelly at odds with Trump, who repeatedly said during his presidential campaign that he would build a border wall that Mexico would pay for, not U.S. taxpayers.”
Odds of a Shutdown Grow
Caitlin Owens: “A government shutdown is looking more likely as hardliners in both parties dig in, meaning Congress may not have the votes to pass a spending bill by the end of the week. But again, it’s only Wednesday, and there’s going to be strong pressure to not let federal funding lapse.”
“Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are saying they won’t back the bill, meaning Republican leaders will need help from Democrats who say they won’t offer it. The Democratic base is pressuring its members to hold the line on immigration — and get a solution to DACA included in any spending bill.”
Reuters reports President Trump said a federal government shutdown “could happen” by the end of the week, insisting that Democrats would be blamed if that happened.
Trump Rejects ‘Horrible’ Immigration Deal
President Trump aligned himself solidly with conservative Republicans on immigration, criticizing a proposed bipartisan deal as “horrible” on border security and “very, very weak” on reforms for the legal immigration system, Reuters reports.
Said Trump: “It’s the opposite of what I campaigned for.”
What Bannon Told Congress
Jonathan Swan: “Steve Bannon made one conspicuous slip up in his closed-door hearing on Tuesday with the House Intelligence Committee… Bannon admitted that he’d had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior’s infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016.”
“Bannon immediately realized he’d slipped up and disclosed conversations he wasn’t supposed to discuss, because they happened while he was chief strategist in the White House. Throughout the rest of the session, committee members — in particular Republican Trey Gowdy and Democrat Adam Schiff — hammered Bannon over the fact that he’d mentioned those conversations but refused to discuss anything else about his time in the White House.”
“Bannon’s lawyer, Bill Burck, told the committee in his opening remarks that Bannon wouldn’t answer any questions that relate to his time inside the White House or during the presidential transition. The committee caught him in the slip-up inside the first 90 minutes.”
Trump Says Russia Helping North Korea Skirt Sanctions
President Trump said that Russia is helping North Korea get supplies in violation of international sanctions and that Pyongyang is getting “closer every day” to being able to deliver a long-range missile to the United States, Reuters reports.
Said Trump: “Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea. What China is helping us with, Russia is denting. In other words, Russia is making up for some of what China is doing.”
Americans Split on Whether Trump Is Mentally Stable
A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters disapprove of the job President Trump is doing, 57% to 38%.
Key finding: “Wide gender, racial and political gaps leave American voters divided on whether Trump is ‘mentally stable,’ as 45% say he is stable and 47% say he is not stable.”
Quote of the Day
“An American president who cannot take criticism — who must constantly deflect and distort and distract — who must find someone else to blame — is charting a very dangerous path. And a Congress that fails to act as a check on the President adds to the danger.”
— Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), in a speech on the Senate floor.
Bannon Strikes Deal to Avoid Grand Jury
“Steve Bannon has struck a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and will be interviewed by prosecutors instead of testifying before the grand jury,” CNN reports.
“He is expected to cooperate with the special counsel.”
Doctor Says Trump Has Heart Disease
CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said that he believes tests reveal that President Trump has heart disease, The Hill reports.
Gupta said dating back to 2009, President Trump started to have “these tests that are actually looking for the presence of calcium in the blood vessels that lead to the heart.”
Said Gupta: “It was interesting when I spoke to Dr. Jackson at first, he said, he passed all the tests with flying colors. When I asked him specifically about that test, did he then concede that, in fact, the president does have heart disease. They’re going to be increasing the medications, including the cholesterol-lowering medications to try and combat that, but there’s no question, by all standards, by all metrics, anyway a doctor or cardiologist will look at it, the president does have heart disease.”
Porn Star Describes Her Affair with Trump
Porn star Stormy Daniels tells In Touch that she had sex with Donald Trump in his Lake Tahoe, NV, hotel suite in 2006 — a story that was corroborated by her good friend Randy Spears and supported by her ex-husband. She also took a polygraph test.
Said Daniels: “The sex was textbook generic. I actually don’t even know why I did it, but I do remember while we were having sex, I was like, ‘Please, don’t try to pay me.’”
After having sex, Daniels said: “We hung out for a little while and he just kept saying, ‘I’m gonna call you, I’m gonna call you. I have to see you again. You’re amazing. We have to get you on The Apprentice.’”
Daily Beast: “According to a source familiar with the matter, later this week, InTouch is planning to run the entire unedited interview it conducted with Daniels. All 5,500 words of it.”
Is Trump Counting on a Terrorist Attack?
Washington Post: “In private conversations, Trump has told advisers that he doesn’t think the 2018 election has to be as bad as others are predicting. He has referenced the 2002 midterms, when George W. Bush and Republicans fared better after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, these people said.”
Matthew Yglesias: “I’m pretty skeptical that the political dynamics of September 2001 would be replicated today. But regardless, this is a frightening line of thought for an incumbent president and his team to be entertaining.”
Trump Has Lost All Credibility on Capitol Hill
Politico: “On the cusp of a deal for the second time with Democrats to enshrine protections for 700,000 young undocumented immigrants, Trump once again destroyed the underpinnings of the potential agreement… So now, instead of securing a bipartisan deal to fund the government and help a large group of immigrants that Trump said deserve compassion, the president and Republican Congress are scrambling, yet again, just to keep the government open.”
“It demonstrates once again to Democrats — and Republicans — that Trump is an unpredictable, unreliable partner who cannot be trusted to keep his word. To lawmakers on Capitol Hill, there may be no greater crime, since all members and senators know their word is their bond. Once you lose that credibility, you’re done as a deal-maker.”
Cuomo Has $30 Million War Chest
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) “raised an average of more than $32,000 per day for the last six months, according to campaign finance reports, and has now amassed a $30.5 million campaign chest in 2018 that so far has helped him scare away serious rivals in his bid for a third term,” the New York Times reports.
Online Interest In Trump Has Plummeted
Brookings: “Public interest in Trump has plummeted over the course of 2017. After peaking during inauguration week, searches for him have dropped to 20 percent of the initial level as the public has soured on the chief executive.”
“Impeachment interest has surged during Trump’s first year. In May and November, there were major spikes in public interest in that topic as Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in May and saw leading advisers face federal indictment in November.”
