President Trump proclaimed May 1 as “Loyalty Day” as a way to “recognize and reaffirm our allegiance to the principles” upon which America was built and express pride in those ideals, Fox News reports.
Said the proclamation: “The United States stands as the world’s leader in upholding the ideals of freedom, equality, and justice. Together, and with these fundamental concepts enshrined in our Constitution, our Nation perseveres in the face of those who would seek to harm it.”
Milo Yiannopoulos told Vanity Fair that he would be launching “a new media venture in the coming weeks with what he says is a $12 million investment from backers whose identities he is protecting.”
“The business, which will be called Milo Inc., will be even more focused on stoking the sort of ugly political conflict that’s closer to the surface than ever in these early months of the Trump administration. As Fox News remains busy with its latest scandal, Milo Inc. promises to be the latest incumbent in a growing far-right media sphere that is overwhelmingly populated with politically incorrect, and often jarring, provocations once considered verboten by conservatives.”
“We’re dealing with obstructionists. I don’t have one Democratic vote.”
— President Trump, in an interview with Fox News, on why he didn’t get more done in his first 100 days.
President Donald Trump shifted blame for the vetting of his former national security adviser Michael Flynn onto the Obama administration, Politico reports.
Said Trump: “When he came into our administration, for a short period of time — he came in — he was already approved by the Obama administration, and he had years left on that approval.”
He added: “Now, if somebody’s approved at the absolute highest level by the Obama or a previous administration, I mean, does anybody ever ask about them?”
Washington Post: “Trump has been in office for 99 days. As of our latest update on day 98, we’ve counted 452 false or misleading claims.”
“North Korea launched a missile on Saturday, even as the United States and China have been seeking to curb the North’s military ambitions,” the New York Times reports.
“But the test ended in failure, the South Korean military said. It was the second consecutive failure in the past two weeks.”
MSNBC is in talks with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt about creating a show for him on weekend evenings, New York Magazine reports.
“Initially MSNBC was keen on having Hewitt host a program on weekend mornings, but that idea is off the table because Hewitt wants to be on in the evening.”
“The UK government was given details last December of allegedly extensive contacts between the Trump campaign and Moscow,” The Guardian reports.
“Reports by Christopher Steele, a former MI6 officer, on possible collusion between the the Trump camp and the Kremlin are at the centre of a political storm in the US over Moscow’s role in getting Donald Trump elected.”
“It was not previously known that the UK intelligence services had also received the dossier but Steele confirmed in a court filing earlier this month that he handed a memorandum compiled in December to a ‘senior UK government national security official acting in his official capacity, on a confidential basis in hard copy form.'”
“The court papers say Steele decided to pass on the information he had collected because it was ‘of considerable importance in relation to alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election,’ that it ‘had implications for the national security of the US and the UK’ and ‘needed to be analysed and further investigated/verified.'”
Former President Obama hailed the political resilience of his signature health care law at a private event, pointing out that Obamacare is now more popular than his successor trying to repeal it: President Donald Trump, CNN reports.
“Obama also predicted that it will be challenging for Trump and fellow Republicans to make any sweeping changes to a law that now provides health insurance for so many people, as he remarked how difficult it was for him to get Obamacare enacted into law in 2009.”
A new CNN/ORC poll finds 50% of American voters would vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress while 41% would choose the Republican candidate if the election were held today.
“A lead that large, this far out, is not necessarily predictive, however — although it approaches the edge Democrats held early on in the 2006 election cycle when they won control of the House, it is also similar to their advantage early on in the 2010 cycle, which ended with a Republican takeover of the chamber.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said that he’s opposed to the House Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, the Washington Examiner reports.
Said Kasich: “I wouldn’t be surprised if they pass something, but I’m not for it.”
Of President Trump, he added: “I happen to believe he doesn’t really care what the plan is.”
David Nather: “Take it for what it’s worth — this is coming from one of Trump’s former rivals. But Kasich still has a high profile in the GOP, and the more Congressional Republicans struggle to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the more likely it is that other Republicans could suggest it’s time to try something else.”
McKay Coppins: “Trump is a Queens-born billionaire who has spent his life chasing validation from elites who hold him in disdain. With each new benchmark he reaches, he holds out hope that it will finally quiet his chorus of haters. And when he realizes they’re still laughing at him, he acts out.”
“Consider, now, what Trump is likely seeing these days when he turns on his TV: presidential historians discussing the unparalleled failures of his first hundred days; polls showing an historically low approval rating; pundits depicting a presidency gripped by impotence. Given his recent history, an eruption was inevitable.”
Vice President Mike Pence “has delicately sidestepped the infighting, scandals and staff shakeups that have dragged down many of Trump’s aides, instead taking his cues from the president as he shapes one of the most consequential jobs in the world,” Politico reports.
“While many vice presidents angle for power inside the West Wing, Pence has defined his role narrowly. His thinking, according to those close to him, is that the vice president has only two constitutional duties – to serve as president of the Senate and to be prepared in case of the worst. The rest is up to Trump… Pence’s approach has allowed him to artfully navigate the warring fiefdoms that have emerged in the West Wing and stay in Trump’s good graces – even if it means he’s hasn’t amassed the influence, as many had hoped, to pull the president in a more conservative direction.”
“The controversial president of the Heritage Foundation and former senator, Jim DeMint, may soon be out of a job, following a dispute with board members about the direction of far-right leaning think tank,” Politico reports.
“Some Heritage board members believe that DeMint has brought in too many Senate allies and made the think tank too bombastic and political – to the detriment of its research and scholarly aims. … DeMint has been in contract negotiations, which are expected to be cut short.”
“A well-placed source close to the proposal tells Mediaite that serious discussions are underway to create an alternative conservative cable network on the belief that the Fox News Network is moving too far to the left. The source, who is engaged in the talks, says a meeting is planned for today with two prominent high-powered television executives, some underperforming conservative networks and people who have an interest and the ability to fund a new network.”
“The potential aim? Putting ‘the old band’ back together. There are certainly plenty of (out-of-work?) conservative powerhouses to pick from that could star on a new network, and perhaps even some executives from within Fox News who might be lured by the new opportunity.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said that President Trump ought to “eradicate” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top lieutenants in a surgical military strike designed to give rise to a more benign leadership in Pyongyang, the Washington Post reports.
“Kasich stopped short of explicitly recommending that U.S. forces assassinate North Korea’s leaders, but what he described would be a military and intelligence exercise.”
Donald Trump’s inaugural committee “received about $10.6 million — or about 10 percent of its total raised — from roughly 60 limited liability companies, or LLCs — structures often set up by small businesses that provide favorable tax treatment while also protecting their owners’ assets,” according to Open Secrets.
“But some exist mainly to mask people’s identities.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.