The Americans is a great show. If you’re not watching, you should.
Trump Team Denied Russia Contacts 20 Times
USA Today: “President Trump, and his presidential campaign, have issued at least 20 denials of campaign officials’ communications with and connections with Russian officials.”
Defining Trumpism
David Brooks: “The first thing we learned was that Trumpism is an utter repudiation of modern conservatism. For the last 40 years, the Republican Party has been a coalition of three tendencies [foreign-policy hawks, social conservatives, fiscal hawks]… Trump rejected or ignored all of them.”
“Trump’s speech … offered those of us who want to replace him an occasion to ask the big question: How in the 21st century should government unleash initiative and dynamism while also preserving order? Trump’s answer: Nationalize intimidation but privatize compassion. Don’t look to government to offer a warm hand; look to it to confront your enemies with a hard fist.”
How the French Vote Could Wreck the European Union
The Economist: “The Socialist and Republican parties, which have held power since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958, could be eliminated in the first round of a presidential ballot on April 23rd. French voters may face a choice between two insurgent candidates: Marine Le Pen, the charismatic leader of the National Front, and Emmanuel Macron, the upstart leader of a liberal movement, En Marche! (On the Move!), which he founded only last year.
“The implications of these insurgencies are hard to exaggerate. They are the clearest example yet of a global trend: that the old divide between left and right is growing less important than a new one between open and closed. The resulting realignment will have reverberations far beyond France’s borders. It could revitalise the European Union, or wreck it.”
No, Democrats Aren’t Overplaying Their Hand
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The Travel Ban Will Look Very Different
Rick Klein and Shushannah Walshe: “Another week is slipping by without a revised travel ban – the same travel ban that, when delayed, the president claimed was critical for immediate national security. If and when that new order comes, it’s already looking significantly different – although the Trump White House is not and will not be admitting that.”
“For starters, one of the seven countries – Iraq – is coming off the list entirely, according to U.S. officials, apparently at the behest of several Cabinet secretaries who identified how problematic that stance is for relations with a close ally where there are military urgencies. And the idea that it may exempt all current visas holders from all of the countries listed is a major reversal. What started as a Muslim ban could end up being tighter restrictions on those coming from six predominantly Muslim countries, with current visa holders unaffected. Will the White House acknowledge initial errors in policy, or in judgment?”
Why Trump Will Lose Playing Putin’s Dangerous Game
Garry Kasparov, the Russian political activist and chess grandmaster, joins us on Political Wire Conversations for a discussion about Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and their very dangerous game.
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Follow the host of our podcast, Chris Riback, on Twitter @chrisriback.
Tax Reform Is Still Very Much a Dream
Playbook: “Administration officials are running around town saying they will complete tax reform by August, but for now, top White House aides are in open war over a central component of an overhaul: the House GOP idea to tax imports instead of exports. Instead of deciding on a strategy internally and promoting it, the aides have been shadow boxing, expressing different opinions in private settings with reporters and business leaders.”
“Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary who is in his first job in D.C., is publicly saying he is confident in having a comprehensive tax reform bill signed by August, which has elicited head shakes and chuckles all over town. There is no bill — or anything close — and many of the Treasury aides who would be working on tax reform aren’t even in place. Most people see early 2018 as a more likely target date, considering the president has promised health care repeal and replace, $30 billion in emergency spending, a border wall with Mexico, not to mention they need to lift the debt ceiling and fund the government. And the president’s budget — the key element in tax reform — is, for now, dead on arrival.”
Forget the Speech. Look at the Budget.
Michael Gerson: “The Trump budget outline is underdeveloped, compared with those of other presidencies; it leaves the trajectory of deficits unchanged; it imposes cruel and indiscriminate cuts in discretionary spending; it is cowardly, especially on the main drivers of future debt; it is injurious to elected Republicans who will risk the wrath of the Trump base in order to make rational budget choices; it is an indication of governing unseriousness and a preference for positioning over leadership.”
“But the speech was nice.”
Sometimes the Smoke Is the Fire
Mike Allen: “I was chatting with a smart Republican about the White House’s Russia issues, and he said: ‘This is the rare case where the smoke IS the fire.’ What he meant is that even if the White House wound up being right that there’s no ‘there’ there (harder to see, with each day’s revelations), the warning signs and botched reactions and mounting questions have themselves become huge problems for the President.”
“So many of the players — by slow-rolling, obscuring or trashing the facts — have made it LOOK like they have something to hide.”
“Republicans close to the White House said events seem to be moving from the Distraction Zone to the Danger Zone. Democrats see that the scandal and investigative machinery that was used against them in the Clinton administration can now be cranked up to hobble this president, just as he heads into the months when he needs to be putting legislative points on the board.”
White House Pushes Back on Mattis Appointment
“Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis wants to tap the former U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, as his undersecretary of defense for policy, but the Pentagon chief is running into resistance from White House officials,” Politico reports.
“The skirmish surrounding Patterson’s nomination is the latest in a series of personnel battles that have played out between Mattis and the White House, with each side rejecting the names offered up by the other while the Pentagon remains empty.”
Trump Advisers Push Him to Purge Obama Appointees
“Advisers to President Donald Trump are urging him to purge the government of former President Barack Obama’s political appointees and quickly install more people who are loyal to him, amid a cascade of damaging stories that have put his nascent administration in seemingly constant crisis-control mode,” Politico reports.
“A number of his advisers believe Obama officials are behind the leaks and are seeking to undermine his presidency.”
Sessions and Trump Have a Tight Bond
Washington Post: “Jeff Sessions was the first senator to endorse Trump at a time when few Republican lawmakers supported the candidate. His early and fierce loyalty — and his ability to translate Trump’s nationalist instincts into policy — helped him forge a bond with the president, and he now enjoys access whenever he wants it, a privilege that few get, an official said.”
“Two of Sessions’s former Senate advisers — Stephen Miller and Rick Dearborn — hold key White House roles, and one official said Sessions still talks to them regularly.”
Fillon’s Home Raided by Investigators
The Paris home of France’s conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon has been raided by investigators, the BBC reports.
“The search was part of an investigation into an allegedly fake job given to his wife. He denies any wrongdoing.”
“Mr Fillon has vowed to continue his presidential campaign, despite growing pressure for him to step down.”
Sessions Used Political Funds to Attend GOP Convention
“The Trump administration says Attorney General Jeff Sessions was acting as a then-U.S. senator when he talked to Russia’s ambassador at an event during last year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, but Mr. Sessions paid for convention travel expenses out of his own political funds and he spoke about Donald Trump’s campaign at the event,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Pence Used Personal Email for State Business
Vice President Mike Pence “routinely used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, at times discussing sensitive matters and homeland security issues,” the Indianapolis Star reports.
“Emails released to IndyStar in response to a public records request show Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at the governor’s residence to the state’s response to terror attacks across the globe. In one email, Pence’s top state homeland security adviser relayed an update from the FBI regarding the arrests of several men on federal terror-related charges.”
Sessions Will Recuse Himself from Russia Investigation
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions, facing a chorus of criticism over his contacts with the Russian ambassador, recused himself Thursday from any investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election,” the New York Times reports.
“His conversations with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, came amid suspected Russian hacking directed at Hillary Clinton’s campaign.”
Trump Went a Full Day Without Lying
“Donald Trump has been president for 41 days, and he finally put up a goose egg: no factual errors or misleading statements for a full day, midnight to midnight,” according to the Washington Post.
“All he had to do, it turns out, was say almost nothing.”
