New York Times: “When Mr. Trump addressed a Boy Scouts jamboree last month in West Virginia, White House aides told Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from the state whose support was in doubt, that she could only accompany him on Air Force One if she committed to voting for the health care bill. She declined the invitation, noting that she could not commit to voting for a measure she had not seen, according to a Republican briefed on the conversation.”
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Trump’s Distorted View of Washington
Playbook: “Trump has certainly changed the contours of the presidency: He doesn’t conform to political norms, he brushes off drama in his ranks, and he rankles players on the world stage.”
“But in Washington, Trump seems to have a contorted view of a few key fundamental political realities that are out of his control. He is operating with an extraordinarily thin majority in the Senate and seems intent on poking key senators…in the eyes. He is in a prolonged battle with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom he can’t get rid of and whose support he needs to get anything done. He’s threatening a government shutdown over a border wall he will likely not be able to build. He continues to push changes to the Senate rules — he says he wants to get rid of the filibuster — despite opposition by Senate Republicans and Democrats. He’s been unrelenting in his criticism of Democrats and seems disinterested in doing anything to bring them into the fold.”
“Anyone who spent more than a minute observing or participating in our legislative politics would describe Trump’s moves as some combination of self-defeating, illogical and misguided. Behind the scenes, the White House is working despite the president’s bluster: Top Trump aides are in touch with Hill leadership aides to ensure the government doesn’t jump off the rails. And there still remains a glimmer of hope for some kind of tax reform effort to get off the ground. But the president’s unconventional view of what it takes to govern is not helping.”
Trump All but Promises to Pardon Arpaio
President Trump “all but promised to pardon Joe Arpaio, the hard-line former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., who became a national symbol of the campaign against undocumented immigrants, and whose round-’em-up raids have landed him in legal trouble,” the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “I’ll make a prediction — I think he is going to be just fine. But I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy. But Sheriff Joe can feel good.”
Military Leaders Consolidate Power Under Trump
“High-ranking military officials have become an increasingly ubiquitous presence in American political life during Donald Trump’s presidency, repeatedly winning arguments inside the West Wing, publicly contradicting the president and even balking at implementing one of his most controversial policies,” the Washington Post reports.
“Connected by their faith in order and global norms, these military leaders are rapidly consolidating power throughout the executive branch as they counsel a volatile president. Some establishment figures in both political parties view them as safeguards for the nation in a time of turbulence.”
Moore Said He Thinks Obama Is Not a U.S. Citizen
Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, “has cast doubt on former President Obama’s citizenship repeatedly and as recently as December 2016, fueling the debunked ‘birther’ movement that sought to delegitimize Obama’s presidency,” CNN reports.
“Moore, who started questioning the legitimacy of Obama’s citizenship back in 2008, last year told a meeting of the Constitution Party that he personally did not believe Obama was a natural-born citizen.”
Flake in Double Electoral Jeopardy
A new Highground poll in Arizona shows Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) trailing Kelli Ward (R) in a GOP Senate primary, 43% to 28%.
Flake also trails Kyrsten Sinema (D) in a possible general election match up, 41% to 33%.
Tiffany Trump Vacation Cost $117K In Car Rentals
“The State Department splashed out over $100,000 on car rentals during First Daughter Tiffany Trump’s recent vacation in Italy,” the Daily Mail reports.
“Federal records show that three separate payments in the amounts of $54,694.84, $39,188.64 and $23,605.96 were made on July 18 in Rome.”
LePage Claims Civil War Was Really About Land
Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) defended monuments to the Confederacy, claiming that 7,600 Mainers fought for the South and that the war was initially about land, not slavery, CNN reports.
Said LePage: “What was the war? If you really truly read and study the Civil War, it was turned into a battle for the slaves, but initially — I mean, 7,600 Mainers fought for the Confederacy. And they fought because they were concerned about — they were farmers — and they were concerned about their land. Their property. It was a property rights issue as it began. The President of the United States, who was a very brilliant politician, really made it about slavery to a great degree.”
Breitbart Editor Pledges to Do ‘Dirty Work’ Against Trump
“A self-described ’email prankster’ seemingly fooled top editors at Breitbart over the weekend into believing he was Steve Bannon, the fired White House chief strategist who returned to the right-wing website as executive chairman on Friday,” CNN reports.
“In the emails, Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow pledged that he and several other top editors would do Bannon’s ‘dirty work’ against White House aides. The emails were shared with CNN by the prankster.”
McConnell Doubts Trump Can Save Presidency
“The relationship between President Trump and Sen. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has disintegrated to the point that they have not spoken to each other in weeks, and Mr. McConnell has privately expressed uncertainty that Mr. Trump will be able to salvage his administration after a series of summer crises,” the New York Times reports.
“What was once an uneasy governing alliance has curdled into a feud of mutual resentment and sometimes outright hostility… Angry phone calls and private badmouthing have devolved into open conflict, with the president threatening to oppose Republican senators who cross him, and Mr. McConnell mobilizing to their defense.”
“The rupture between Mr. Trump and Mr. McConnell comes at a highly perilous moment for Republicans, who face a number of urgent deadlines when they return to Washington next month. Congress must approve new spending measures and raise the statutory limit on government borrowing within weeks of reconvening, and Republicans are hoping to push through an elaborate rewrite of the federal tax code. There is scant room for legislative error on any front.”
The End of Trump’s Governing Coalition
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The GOP Congress Is Sinking Faster Than Trump
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GOP Lawmaker Suggests Obama Staged Charlottesville
Idaho state Rep. Bryan Zollinger (R) said that he’s doubling down on the claim that it is “completely plausible” that Democratic officials staged the tragic events in Charlottesville, Virginia, to smear President Trump, the Spokesman-Review reports.
And he said donors are pledging to give him money in response to widespread criticism of the post.
Said Zollinger: “At first, I felt genuinely bad that maybe I had offended somebody. Since then, the amazing amount of hate and the despicable things that have been said about myself, my wife, my kids, I’ve doubled down.”
He added: “Obama was a community organizer before he was the president of the United States… I still do think it’s plausible.”
Pressure Grows on Paul Manafort
“Two sources familiar with the inquiry tell McClatchy that investigators are working to confirm information indicating that Manafort and the consulting firms he led earned between $80 million and $100 million over a decade from pro-Moscow Ukrainian and Russian clients.”
“Mueller’s expanded focus on Manafort’s complicated financial picture is zeroing in on whether he may have evaded taxes or engaged in any money laundering schemes, the sources say, and the hunt for his financial records through a labyrinth of offshore bank and business accounts has become an important prong of the investigation.”
Key takeaway: “Manafort, who chaired the Trump campaign for three months in mid-2016 and earlier spent two months coordinating the search for pro-Trump delegates, is a prime target as investigators attempt to win the cooperation of key members of the campaign’s inner circle.”
Flashback Quote of the Day
“Do not allow our very stupid leaders to sign a deal that keeps us in Afghanistan through 2024 — with all costs by U.S.A. Make America Great!”
— Donald Trump, on Twitter, November 21, 2013.
Is Trump Really Cratering In the Polls?
Steve Kornacki: “Recall some of the dire polling he faced as a candidate. More than 60% of voters didn’t think he was qualified to be president; not even 20% thought he had the temperament and personality to serve; more than half of Republicans said they weren’t satisfied with him as their nominee. On Election Day, 60% of the electorate said it didn’t like him.”
“By any historical standard, these were also politically catastrophic numbers, and yet, well, Trump is in the White House. In 2016, the numbers didn’t mean quite what we thought they did.”
“As narratives of collapse take shape around Trump’s presidency now, the campaign should at least serve as a cautionary tale. It may look like his base is crumbling — and maybe it is — or maybe we’re living through a new version of what happened last year.”
Trump Has Lied More Than 1,000 Times as President
Washington Post: “We have been tracking President Trump’s false or misleading claims for more than seven months. Somewhere around Aug. 4 or Aug. 5, he broke 1,000 claims, and the tally now stands at 1,057.”
“That’s an impressive number by any standard. In fact, we are a little late with this update because we have simply been overwhelmed keeping track of the deluge of claims made by the president in the later part of July.”
5,000 Trump-Shaped Ecstasy Pills Seized
German police have seized around 5,000 ecstasy tablets shaped like the head of President Trump, a haul worth tens of thousands of euros, CNN reports.
