President Trump is backing Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in next week’s special election saying on Twitter that he “has my complete and total endorsement.”
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Pence’s Real Power Move
“The vice president’s office hasn’t been one of the competing power centers in President Trump’s faction-riven White House – but the recent arrival of Nick Ayers, the veteran campaign operative now serving as Mike Pence’s chief of staff, is starting to change that,” Politico reports.
“Among the reasons Ayers didn’t join the White House in January was a long-running feud with former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, who reportedly blocked his ascension to the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee in December and, according to one White House aide, worked to keep him out of the administration.”
“With the exception of political director Bill Stepien, a former Chris Christie aide, the political operation is now staffed almost entirely by Pence World operatives.”
Mueller Gave Up Millions to Work on Russia Probe
“Robert Mueller left a $3.4 million partner job in the white-shoe law firm WilmerHale… to serve as the special counsel overseeing the law enforcement investigation into whether the Kremlin and the Trump campaign coordinated to impact the 2016 election,” the Washington Post reports.
“Mueller’s public financial disclosure — along with those of seven members of his team — was released after a request from The Washington Post. The document offers a glimpse into who the special counsel and the lawyers he has hired have worked for, and where they have made and invested their money.”
“The documents show that several lawyers on the team, particularly those who came from the private sector, left behind substantial salaries to work on the Russia case.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“President Trump’s the most gifted politician of our time, and he’s the best orator to hold that office in generations.”
— White House adviser Stephen Miller, on Fox News.
Pastor: God Wants Trump to ‘Take Out’ Kim Jong Un
Texas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, one of President Trump’s evangelical advisers who preached the morning of his inauguration, told the Washington Post the president has the moral authority to take out North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Said Jeffress: “When it comes to how we should deal with evil doers, the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil. In the case of North Korea, God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un.”
Could Pence Survive a Trump Collapse?
Ryan Lizza: “I reached out to Ron Klain, Gore’s chief of staff when he was Vice-President, to ask about how Gore dealt with the complexities of serving loyally as Vice-President for someone who might be booted out of office. He was reluctant to compare Pence’s situation with Gore’s, but he did, however, make it clear that any attempt by Pence to escape Trump’s shadow would be met with a withering argument from Democrats.”
Said Klain: “Over all, I would say that whenever Mike Pence runs for office in the future, the liability he will carry from this period is not how he distanced himself from Trump but, rather, how he deepened his ties to the President. In 2020, at the end of a failed, one-term Trump Presidency, no amount of PAC money or donor meetings will insulate Vice-President Pence from the political fallout from being Donald Trump’s transition chief, Capitol Hill liaison, right-hand man, and principal surrogate.”
North Korea Threatens to Strike Guam
North Korea said it is “carefully examining” a plan to strike the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam with missiles, just hours after President Trump told the North that any threat to the United States would be met with “fire and fury,” Reuters reports.
A spokesman for the Korean People’s Army said the strike plan will be “put into practice in a multi-current and consecutive way any moment” once leader Kim Jong Un makes a decision.
McCain Says Trump Erred in Threat to North Korea
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told KTAR that President Trump’s threat to rain “fire and fury” down on North Korea was a mistake.
Said McCain: “I take exception to the President’s comments because you gotta be able to do what you say you’re gonna do. In other words, the old walk softly but carry a big stick, Teddy Roosevelt’s saying, which I think is something that should’ve applied because all it’s going to do is bring us closer to a serious confrontation. I think this is very, very, very serious.”
He added: “The great leaders I’ve seen don’t threaten unless they’re ready to act and I’m not sure President Trump is ready to act… It’s the classic Trump in that he overstates things.”
Trump Has Sent Messages to Mueller
President Trump has publicly called the widening federal investigation into Russia’s election meddling a “witch hunt.” But through his lawyer, Trump has sent private messages of “appreciation” to special counsel Robert Mueller, USA Today reports.
Said Trump chief counsel John Dowd: “He appreciates what Bob Mueller is doing. He asked me to share that with him and that’s what I’ve done.”
He added: “The president has sent messages back and forth.”
Trump Issues Threat to North Korea
President Trump issued a stern warning to North Korea, saying that if its threats to the United States continue, the outcast nation will be “met with the fire and the fury like the world has never seen,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump comments came as North Korea spurned a new round of sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council and pledged to continue to press forward with development of nuclear weapons that could reach the U.S. mainland.”
Cable Instructs Diplomats to Be Coy on Paris Accord
“U.S. diplomats should sidestep questions from foreign governments on what it would take for the Trump administration to re-engage in the global Paris climate agreement,” according to a diplomatic cable seen by Reuters.
“The cable, sent by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to embassies on Friday, also said diplomats should make clear the United States wants to help other countries use fossil fuels.”
Trump Tweets Out Classified Story
President Trump tweeted out a link to a Fox News report about North Korea that contained what U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said was “classified” information, according to Yahoo News.
Haley said she could not discuss the story: “I can’t talk about anything that’s classified, and if that’s in the newspaper, that’s a shame, but…”
Trump Gets Positive News Briefing Twice a Day
Vice News: “Twice a day since the beginning of the Trump administration, a special folder is prepared for the president. The first document is prepared around 9:30 a.m. and the follow-up around 4:30 p.m. Former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former Press Secretary Sean Spicer both wanted the privilege of delivering the 20- to 25-page packet to President Trump personally.”
“These sensitive papers… are not top-secret intelligence or updates on legislative initiatives. Instead, the folders are filled with screenshots of positive cable news chyrons (those lower-third headlines and crawls), admiring tweets, transcripts of fawning TV interviews, praise-filled news stories, and sometimes just pictures of Trump on TV looking powerful.”
Trump Approval Sinks to New Low In Another Poll
A new IBD/TIPP poll finds President Trump’s approval rate at a dismal 32% to 59%.
Key findings: “Trump lost significant support across the board, but saw big declines among areas of core support, including Republicans, Midwesterners, middle-income families, white men and the high-school educated.”
GOP Donors Withhold $2 Million After Repeal Failure
CNN: “At least $2 million in contributions promised to the National Republican Senatorial Committee have failed to materialize because donors are expressing frustration with the Senate GOP’s inability to fulfill their central campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, according to two GOP sources familiar with the matter.”
“The shortfall, officials said, also points to a larger concern within the party that their core voters may be disillusioned heading into the 2018 midterms when Democrats have a serious shot of retaking the House.”
McConnell Slams Trump for ‘Excessive Expectations’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “offered some of his toughest criticism yet for President Donald Trump in a speech Monday,” CNN reports.
Said McConnell: “Our new president, of course, has not been in this line of work before. I think he had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.”
He added: “Part of the reason I think people think we’re under-performing is because of too many artificial deadlines unrelated to the reality of the legislature which may have not been understood.”
Low Turnout Expected for Alabama’s Special Election
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said he is projecting that 20% to 25% of voters will go to the polls on August 15, the AP reports.
“Merrill said a typical primary brings turnout of 30% to 32%. The closely watched race features crowded fields and heated matchups, particularly on the Republican side. However, the late summer special election comes at a time that state voters aren’t accustomed to going to the polls.”
Trump Mulls Outsourcing War in Afghanistan
“The White House is actively considering a bold plan to turn over a big chunk of the U.S. war in Afghanistan to private contractors in an effort to turn the tide in a stalemated war,” USA Today reports.
“Under the proposal, 5,500 private contractors, primarily former Special Operations troops, would advise Afghan combat forces. The plan also includes a 90-plane private air force that would provide air support in the nearly 16-year-old war against Taliban insurgents.”
