“Much of media is distorted and fake. Knowingly false. We don’t have truthful media. I actually think they’re sick people.”
— President Trump, in an interview with CBN.
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Officials Worry Terrorism Defenses Are Being Weakened
“Though cast as measures meant to make the country safe, the Trump administration’s moves during its first week in office are more likely to weaken the counterterrorism defenses the United States has erected over the past 16 years, several current and former U.S. officials said,” the Washington Post reports.
“Through inflammatory rhetoric and hastily drawn executive orders, the administration has alienated allies, including Iraq, provided propaganda fodder to terrorist networks that frequently portray U.S. involvement in the Middle East as a religious crusade, and endangered critical cooperation from often-hidden U.S. partners — whether the leader of a mosque in an American suburb or the head of a Middle East intelligence service.”
Meanwhile, another Washington Post piece notes that Trump and his aides “keep justifying the entry ban by citing attacks it couldn’t have prevented.”
Either Way Trump Will Be Roasted
No one is sure if the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner will go on as planned this year, but Samantha Bee is organizing a counter-event that will take place in Washington on April 29, the same night as the more famous dinner, the New York Times reports.
“This alternative gala, which is being called ‘Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner’ and is expected to be announced officially on Monday, will be at the Willard Hotel. Ms. Bee said that it was not an attempt to comment on or compete with that other, better-known banquet, but a night to include jokes about Mr. Trump that she and like-minded comedians want to make.”
Trump Seems to be Tightening the Circle Around Him
New Yorker: “In the first week of the Trump Presidency, influence has run through a very select group of advisers—maybe as many as half a dozen, maybe as few as two. The President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Bannon have consolidated their influence.”
“The President’s isolation runs deeper than that. As the confusion around the immigration ban made clear, the vast government he oversees has little input on his actions… His campaign made clear that he was not interested in the findings of scientists, social scientists, or the American government. Trump’s transition has alienated him from the American public.”
For members: The Man Behind Trump’s Gold Curtains
Tracking Congress In the Age of Trump
FiveThirtyEight is now tracking how much each senator and representative in Congress supports President Trump’s agenda and compares it to expectations.
Trump’s Competency Now Being Questioned
First Read: “Of course, competency — or a lack thereof — has been a stumbling block for past presidents, on matters big or small. Think Hurricane Katrina for George W. Bush or the Healthcare.Gov website for Barack Obama. But what’s extraordinary about all the chaos resulting from Trump’s travel ban is that it 1) came less than two weeks on the job, 2) came from an executive order, and 3) was on a campaign promise. So this wasn’t a response to a natural disaster, or a computer glitch caused by a contractor. It was an early priority for the administration — and they didn’t have their act together. Also, note that much of the criticism coming from Republicans is on the competency angle.”
Trump Will Announce SCOTUS Pick in Prime Time
President Trump said he will announce his nominee for the Supreme Court at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday from the White House.
GOP Redistricting Maps Coming Under Fire
“Recent court decisions in three states are putting carefully carved Republican-drawn state legislative districts at risk — and could even threaten the entire process of partisan map drawing,” the Washington Post reports.
“On Friday, a federal court ordered Wisconsin legislatures to redraw their state House legislative districts after finding in November that the districts were unconstitutionally partisan. The order will essentially require lawmakers to redraw state Senate maps as well.”
“The November decision was the first time this decade that a court has thrown out legislative maps because they favored voters of one party over another. Subsequently, this will be the first time in a decade that lawmakers will have to redraw maps specifically to make them more fair for both parties.”
Kelly Never Consulted on Immigration Action
“As President Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Friday, shutting the borders to refugees and others from seven largely Muslim countries, the secretary of homeland security was on a White House conference call getting his first full briefing on the global shift in policy,” the New York Times reports.
“Gen. John F. Kelly, the secretary of homeland security, had dialed in from a Coast Guard plane as he headed back to Washington from Miami. Along with other top officials, he needed guidance from the White House, which had not asked his department for a legal review of the order. Halfway into the briefing, someone on the call looked up at a television in his office. ‘The president is signing the executive order that we’re discussing,’ the official said, stunned.”
Mexicans Reportedly Detained as Well
Chicago Tribune: “At least 50 people were held Sunday at O’Hare for further questioning, including those from non-Muslim countries like Mexico, according to lawyers at the scene. It was unclear whether the questioning of the Mexican travelers was related to Trump’s order.”
Bannon Seizes Role from Flynn
New York Times: “People close to Mr. Bannon said he is not accumulating power for power’s sake, but is instead helping to fill a staff leadership vacuum created, in part, by Mr. Flynn’s stumbling performance as national security adviser.”
“Mr. Flynn, a lifelong Democrat sacked as head of the Pentagon’s intelligence arm after clashing with Obama administration officials in 2014, has gotten on the nerves of Mr. Trump and other administration officials because of his sometimes overbearing demeanor, and has further diminished his internal standing by presiding over a chaotic and opaque N.S.C. transition process that prioritized the hiring of military officials over civilian experts recommended to him by his own team.”
What Does Congress Do Now?
Playbook: “Sometimes it makes sense to go through Congress. Yes, it’s slow, messy and cumbersome. But you’ll end up with something safer — and you’ll share the political risk. The question now: Will Republicans on Capitol Hill pass something to help clean up the mess Trump created? Or will they force him to own it? Absent congressional action, will Trump tweak the order? Or is that admitting defeat — something Trump doesn’t like to do. One thing is for certain: Every time Congress has to spend hours and political capital on something like this, it makes tax reform, replacing Obamacare and an infrastructure package that much harder.”
“While Trump is certainly a singular figure, we’ve seen people like him before in Washington. Rich business owners get elected or appointed to positions of power all the time and, in their quest to shake things up in a confining political environment, screw things up instead. Running a private company, where you’re accountable to only yourself, is different than running a country, where you’re accountable to 324 million people and 535 lawmakers, who won election just like the president.”
Chaos Inside the White House
Sources “high-up inside the administration” tell Mike Allen that the bungled rollout of the refugee ban over the weekend “are indicative of bigger problems ahead.”
In addition to worries about an insular decision making process, President Trump “is showing no signs of wanting order: He loves the competing views, internally and externally, allowing him to be the (usually last-minute) decider.”
Also worrying: “The place oozes paranoia. So every bad move is simply chalked up to media-hate.”
For members: The Man Behind Trump’s Gold Curtains
White House Readies for a Supreme Court Fight
Politico: “With Trump planning to announce his nominee on Thursday, but now considering an earlier rollout, his allies are moving quickly to sharpen a battle plan, and the first formal meeting of the de facto war room for the coming confirmation fight took place on Friday at the Capitol Hill headquarters of the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Friday.”
“Inside the room were officials from the White House, Senate GOP leadership and the outside groups that have spent months researching the records of Trump’s potential picks and are now prepared to unload at least $10 million in ads backing the nominee—much of it directed at Senate Democrats up for election in 2018 in states Trump carried.”
Some Muslim Nations Remain Conspicuously Silent
“The Germans criticized it. The British voiced their discomfort. The French, the Canadians and even some Republican senators in Washington stood in open opposition,” the New York Times reports.
“But in Cairo and Riyadh, in the heart of the Muslim world, President Trump’s decision to bar millions of refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from the United States was met with a conspicuous silence.”
The Man Behind Trump’s Gold Curtains
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Trump Says Senators Are Looking to Start World War III
President Donald Trump lashed out at Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for publicly second-guessing his executive order on refugees, calling them “weak on immigration” and “looking to start World War III,” Politico reports.
A Key Moment for Senate Democrats
Rick Hasen: “This week (even with the potential for a Supreme Court nomination as soon as Monday), Senate Democrats will face a pivotal choice: will they work their remaining levers of power to protest President Trump’s policies and power? Even without a filibuster for nominations, Senate Democrats can withhold unanimous consent, demand 30 hours of debate per nomination, etc.”
