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Is This How You Get a Message to Trump?
First Read: “It’s not every day that you hear the phrase ‘f you’ from a sitting United States senator during a broadcast T.V. appearance, but that’s what we heard from Sen. Lindsey Graham on Meet the Press Sunday.”
CHUCK TODD: Do you think there’s a moral difference between the use of chemical weapons and barrel bombs?
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: No, there’s a legal difference, not a moral difference. If you’re a mother, your baby is dead. But we do have treaties that we’ve signed all over the world saying we’re not going to let one nation use weapons of mass destruction. That’s what the chemical weapons treaty is all about. But I will say this. If you kill babies with conventional bombs, it’s still a moral outrage. Here’s what I think Assad’s telling Trump by flying from this base: “F you.” And I think he’s making a serious mistake. Because if you’re an adversary of the United States and you don’t worry about what Trump may do on any given day — then you’re crazy.
“Graham’s not someone who uses language casually when it comes to national security, and his wording certainly seemed intentional here. And it’s the kind of thing sure to get the attention of a president who’s famously attuned to TV commentary (and who’s also certainly aware of the buzz that can be earned for throwing some salty language around.) Which leads us to wonder: If you’re trying to get the attention of Donald Trump — especially amid the staff upheaval and palace intrigue we’ve been seeing in the West Wing — is a bit of Trump-like rhetorical bomb-throwing on T.V. now the most effective way to break through to him?”
Impeachment Hearings Begin In Alabama
Birmingham News: “A legislative committee starts hearings this morning to consider impeachment of Gov. Robert Bentley, a historic process that could remove the governor from office over allegations that he abused his power to try to hide from the public an affair with top advisor Rebekah Mason.”
Democrats Look to Flip Seats In California
“The arm of the Democratic Party in charge of winning control of Congress is moving senior staffers from Washington, D.C., to Orange County in hopes of flipping Republican-held House seats out west during the 2018 midterm elections,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is aiming to defeat seven California Republicans who represent congressional districts where Hillary Clinton beat President Donald Trump — including a cluster of seats in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.”
Trump Scraps Tax Reform Plan
President Trump “has scrapped the tax plan he campaigned on and is going back to the drawing board in a search for Republican consensus behind legislation to overhaul the U.S. tax system,” the AP reports.
“The administration’s first attempt to write legislation is in its early stages and the White House has kept much of it under wraps. But it has already sprouted the consideration of a series of unorthodox proposals including a drastic cut to the payroll tax, aimed at appealing to Democrats.”
“Administration officials say it’s now unlikely that a tax overhaul will meet the August deadline set by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. But the ambitious pace to figure out a plan reflects Trump’s haste to move quickly past a bruising failure to broker a compromise within his own party on how to replace the health insurance law enacted under President Obama.”
Trump Approval Ticks Up
Since the Syrian airstrike, a new CBS News poll finds President Trump’s overall job approval rating has seen an increase to 43%, with 49% now disapproving of his performance.
Trump Makes Nice with Koch Brothers
President Trump “on Saturday night had a friendly chat at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach with twin mega-donor brothers David and Bill Koch, whose family had clashed with Trump during the campaign,” Politico reports.
“While Bill Koch supported Trump during the general election, David Koch and his older brother Charles Koch sidelined their massive political machine during the presidential campaign in protest of Trump.”
“The Koch network has already fired shots across the bow of the Trump administration, and any rapprochement between Trump and David and Charles Koch could be significant in portending a less adversarial relationship between their network and the administration.”
GOP Lawmakers Face Ads Over Obamacare Repeal
“Moderate House Republicans who flirted with supporting the GOP’s now-stalled Obamacare replacement will face attack ads in their districts this week for doing so,” Politico reports.
“Save My Care, a coalition of left-leaning health care advocacy groups fighting to preserve Obamacare, is launching a seven-figure TV ad buy in seven competitive House districts across the country. It’s one of the first attempts by the left to weaponize the GOP’s failed attempt to repeal Obamacare, and it comes as Republicans arrive at home for a two-week recess after trying and failing repeatedly to coalesce behind a health care plan.”
Trump’s 100-Day Judgement Nears
President Trump “has far more than three years left in his first term. But inside his pressure-cooker of a White House, aides and advisers are sweating the next three weeks,” Politico reports.
“The symbolic 100-day mark by which modern presidents are judged menaces for an image-obsessed chief executive whose opening sprint has been marred by legislative stumbles, legal setbacks, senior staff kneecapping one another, the resignation of his national security adviser and near-daily headlines and headaches about links to Russia.”
“The date, April 29, hangs over the West Wing like the sword of Damocles as the unofficial deadline to find their footing— or else.”
Bannon’s Multimedia Machine Paid Him Millions
A Washington Post examination “found that Bannon was able to produce more than a dozen conservative documentaries over the past decade by drawing on a network of two-dozen nonprofit organizations and private companies. Bannon helped arrange donations from wealthy Republicans to the nonprofits that paid him for films and other work, documents show. At the same time, Bannon and his firms took in at least $2 million from the nonprofits and an additional $5 million from the private companies, records show.”
“Bannon, who had already made millions on Wall Street, often was paid in multiple ways for each project — a common practice in Hollywood, where he had worked as an entertainment financier. Because he was paid through the nonprofit and private companies, which have limited obligations to disclose details about their activities, the total pay to Bannon remains unknown.”
Republicans Fret About Holding Georgia Seat
“Republicans are becoming increasingly concerned about their ability to hang on to former Republican congressman Tom Price’s seat here in a wealthy, suburban district where restive Democratic energy has been surging since November’s election,” the Washington Post reports.
“The race will test Democrats’ strength in the kind of districts they need to win if they hope to retake the House in 2018 — mainly suburban areas that have become more demographically diverse.”
Tillerson Takes a Harder Line on Russia
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “is taking a hard line against Russia on the eve of his first diplomatic trip to Moscow, calling the country ‘incompetent’ for allowing Syria to hold on to chemical weapons and accusing Russia of trying to influence elections in Europe using the same methods it employed in the United States,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Tillerson’s comments, made in interviews aired on Sunday, were far more critical of the Russian government than any public statements by President Trump, who has been an increasingly lonely voice for better ties with Russia. They seemed to reflect Mr. Tillerson’s expectation, which he has expressed privately to aides and members of Congress, that the American relationship with Russia is already reverting to the norm: one of friction, distrust and mutual efforts to undermine each other’s reach.”
Washington Post: Trump officials tell Russia to drop support of Syria’s Assad
House Veterans Struggle to Rally Support for Trump
Wall Street Journal: “Three former congressmen now serving at the top ranks of the Trump administration misread their former House colleagues and failed, at least so far, in their effort to push an overhaul of the Affordable Care Act through the chamber. Now, Republican lawmakers have headed home for a two-week recess empty-handed and with a top legislative priority stalled, despite a concerted push by Vice President Mike Pence, White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and Tom Price, the secretary of Health and Human Services.”
“The biggest miscalculation by Mr. Pence and the two Trump cabinet members, lawmakers said, was that the conservative House Freedom Caucus would operate differently with a Republican in the White House than it did under former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.”
Trump Officials Don’t Agree on Syria Regime Change
“Regime change is something that we think is going to happen because all of the parties are going to see that Assad is not the leader that needs to be taking place for Syria… There’s not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime.”
— U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, in an interview on CNN.
“When you undertake a violent regime change in Libya, and the situation in Libya continues to be very chaotic and I would argue that the life of the Libyan people has — is not all that well off today, so I think we have to learn the lessons of the past and learn the lessons of what went wrong in Libya when you choose that pathway of regime change.”
— Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in an interview on ABC News.
McFarland Ousted from National Security Council
“K.T. McFarland has been asked to step down as deputy National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump after less than three months and will become U.S. ambassador to Singapore,” Bloomberg reports.
“The departure of the 65-year-old former Fox News commentator comes as Trump’s second National Security Advisor, Lt General H.R. McMaster, puts his own stamp on the National Security Council after taking over in February following the firing of Michael Flynn.”
Russia Accused of Complicity in Syria War Crime
“Britain and America will this week directly accuse Russia of complicity in war crimes in Syria and demand that Vladimir Putin pull the rug from Bashar al-Assad’s blood-soaked regime,” the Times of London reports.
“Rex Tillerson — President Donald Trump’s secretary of state — will fly to Moscow to confront Russia with evidence that it had knowledge of, and sought to cover up, the regime’s deadly sarin strike last week that left 87 people dead.”
Bipartisan Deal on Tax Reform Unlikely
Wall Street Journal: “There is, at some level, rhetorical room for agreement. Mr. Trump says middle-class tax cuts are a top priority. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) says he’s aiming for his plan to be revenue neutral—collecting as much money over the next decade as the current system does. Mix Mr. Trump’s class rhetoric, Mr. Ryan’s budgetary promise and the prospect of spending on infrastructure and there is a recipe for bipartisanship.”
“But so far, those priorities aren’t widely shared among Republicans and GOP plans haven’t matched them… House Republicans haven’t shown in detail how their plan adds up and don’t want to tie infrastructure and taxes together. Lower tax rates on businesses, investors and top earners are a unifying force in the GOP, and many lawmakers are reluctant to give that up to get a deal with Democrats.”
“Even if the White House and Democrats reach a conceptual agreement on taxes, any accord would drive many Republicans away and require the Trump administration and lawmakers to make decisions on hundreds of details.”
Democrats Have No Regrets Over Nuclear Option
“Democrats heard the argument throughout the Senate’s bitter debate over Neil Gorsuch: Don’t filibuster this Supreme Court nominee — save your leverage for President Trump’s next pick, the one who could change the court’s balance of power for a generation. But most Democrats decided that holding their fire this time would make no difference in the end,” Politico reports.
“Trump would choose the judges he wants, without regard to how Democrats might react, they concluded. And Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was intent on blowing up the filibuster for high court nominees, if not now, then next time in order to maintain the GOP’s grip on the court. His unprecedented blockade of Merrick Garland, Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, made that clear, they believed.”
“So if Democrats were going to lose the filibuster regardless, best to go down swinging now on a nominee many found far too conservative — a move that would also please a liberal base still spoiling for a fight against Trump.”
