President Trump has lost interest in Venezuela after U.S. support for a coup failed to produce immediate results, the Washington Post reports.
Trump has lost “patience and interest” in the issue as attempts to remove President Maduro from power have stalled. Trump reportedly “chewed out the staff” in a meeting shortly after the failed takeover at the end of April, and hasn’t really mentioned it much since.
“In a major provocation, Iran shot down an unarmed and unmanned U.S. RQ-4A Global Hawk drone while it was flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz Thursday, U.S. Central Command confirmed in a statement,” ABC News reports.
Said Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: “Shooting down the American spy drone had a clear, decisive, firm and accurate message… We do not intend to engage in war with any country, but we are completely ready for the war. Today’s incident is a clear sign of this accurate message.”
“Two senior officials and three other individuals with direct knowledge of the administration’s strategy in the region tell the Daily Beast that the president has asked officials to tone down their heated rhetoric on Iran, despite the attacks on tanker ships in the Gulf of Oman that Washington has blamed on Tehran.”
The president has previously said he is less hawkish on Iran than some of his advisers and this week, in a Time magazine interview, said the attacks on the tankers were ‘very minor.'”
New York Times: “Administration officials are briefing Congress on what they say are ties between Iran and Al Qaeda, prompting skeptical reactions and concern on Capitol Hill that the White House could invoke the war authorization passed in 2001 as legal cover for military action against Tehran.”
“Statements tying Iran and Al Qaeda by Mr. Pompeo and other officials point to the potential for the administration to justify invoking the 2001 authorization… And when asked in recent weeks by lawmakers and journalists whether the administration would use the 2001 authorization, Mr. Pompeo has deflected the questions.”
The Atlantic: “Trump started the trade war by levying new taxes on $250 billion worth of Chinese exports. China retaliated both by increasing the duties Americans face and by decreasing the tariffs that confront everyone else: It has cut tariffs on thousands of products from the rest of the world’s fisheries, farmers, and firms.”
“Even as Tariff Man, as Trump likes to refer to himself, focuses only on disruption, Beijing is evidently operating on a higher level. China is outplaying the United States on two fronts.”
“First, while Trump is on the verge of slapping tariffs on almost everything the U.S. imports from China, Beijing is picking and choosing wisely… Second, Trump has no real mitigation strategy to help the Americans facing the entirely foreseeable costs of his policies.”
“Tom Cotton is the most outspoken champion for bombing Iran in a Senate filled with Republican hawks. And he’s got President Donald Trump’s ear on it, too,” Politico reports.
“The Arkansas Republican has spoken to several high-ranking U.S. officials and the president himself about the rising tensions with Iran after the U.S. blamed the Islamic Republic for attacking two oil tankers. He declined to describe those conversations beyond saying that he and Trump ‘discussed the threat that Iran poses to the United States and its partners.'”
A special adviser to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini blamed the United States for a rise in tensions between Iran and the West, Politico reports.
Said Nathalie Tocci: “This is happening for one reason that has not been cited so far, which is the fact that the United States has violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, meaning the Iran deal. You’re not living up to your side of the bargain.”
Facing twin challenges in the Persian Gulf, President Trump told Time that he might take military action to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, but cast doubt on going to war to protect international oil supplies.
Said Trump: “I would certainly go over nuclear weapons and I would keep the other a question mark.”
Trump described recent attacks on oil tankers as “very minor.”
“President Trump is at a make-or-break moment with Iran,” Politico reports.
“Tehran said Monday it will soon take steps that likely violate the 2015 nuclear deal Trump himself abandoned, an announcement that came just days after the U.S. accused the Islamist-led country of sabotaging international oil tankers. The Pentagon announced Monday that it is sending 1,000 more troops to the Middle East for ‘defensive purposes.’ In Europe, meanwhile, leaders are starting to acknowledge that they may have to walk away from the nuclear agreement or devise a new one.
“The confluence of events will test Trump’s weak appetite for military action, his ability to rally allies he has frequently snubbed and his seriousness about actually striking the better deal with the Iranians that he once promised. Along the way, Trump must win over officials well-aware of his history of misstatements and uneasy about relying on U.S. intelligence when a potential new Middle East war could result.”
“President Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations – current U.S. ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft – was frequently absent from her post in Ottawa, raising questions about her level of engagement with the job,” Politico reports.
“State Department officials acknowledge her frequent travels outside of Canada, but said many of the trips were related to the new North American trade deal. Her absences from her official post are likely to be an issue in her confirmation hearing, which is now scheduled for Wednesday.”
Associated Press: “Iran will break the uranium stockpile limit set by Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in the next 10 days, the spokesman for the country’s atomic agency said Monday while also warning that Iran could enrich uranium up to 20% — just a step away from weapons-grade levels.”
“The deal steadily has unraveled since the Trump administration pulled America out of the accord last year and re-imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran, deeply cutting into its sale of crude oil abroad and sending its economy into freefall. Europe so far has been unable to offer Iran a way around the U.S. sanctions.”
“Protesters poured into the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday with renewed determination and a lengthening list of demands, rejecting the government’s retreat on a contentious extradition bill and extending the political crisis gripping the semiautonomous territory,” the New York Times reports.
“Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, shelved the bill on Saturday and followed that up with a rare apology the next day, actions that pro-democracy activists dismissed as too little, too late. And the sheer size of the demonstration — organizers gave an unverified estimate of close to two million of the territory’s seven million people — made clear the public remained unsatisfied.”
South China Morning Post: “Pro-establishment politicians and analysts said the record turnout … was no longer just about the bill. It was about Lam and her governing style, fuelled also by the festering anger over other social problems faced by Hong Kong people.”
“Backing down after days of huge street protests, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said on Saturday that she would indefinitely suspend a bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China,” the New York Times reports.
“It was a remarkable reversal for Mrs. Lam, the leader installed by Beijing in 2017, who had vowed to ensure the bill’s approval and tried to get it passed on an unusually short timetable, even as hundreds of thousands demonstrated against it this past week.”
“But she made it clear that the bill was being delayed, not withdrawn outright, as protesters have demanded.”
“The Japanese owner of the Kokuka Courageous, one of two oil tankers targeted near the Strait of Hormuz, said Friday that sailors on board saw ‘flying objects’ just before it was hit, suggesting the vessel wasn’t damaged by mines,” CBS News reports.
“That account contradicts what the U.S. military said as it released a video Friday it said shows Iranian forces removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the two ships that were hit.”
President Trump appeared to downplay expectations about a possible meeting with Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit later this month, saying “it doesn’t matter” if the Chinese president shows up or not, CNBC reports.
Said Trump: “If he shows up, good, if he doesn’t – in the meantime, we’re taking in billions of dollars a month in tariffs from China.”
Just a few days ago, Trump vowed to immediately slap tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports if Xi didn’t attend the summit.
“Explosions crippled two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday in what the United States called attacks by Iran, raising alarms about immediate security and potential military conflict in a vital passageway for a third of the world’s petroleum,” the New York Times reports.
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that American intelligence agencies had concluded Tehran was behind the disabling of both ships.”
“The most compelling evidence to support Mr. Pompeo’s claim is full-motion video footage taken by a Navy P-8 surveillance plane of an Islamic Revolutionary Guards patrol boat pulling up alongside the Kokuka Courageous, one of the stricken ships, a few hours after the initial explosion, and removing what American analysts believe was a limpet mine.”
Washington Post: “U.S. officials said several nations are consulting about how to respond.”
“U.K. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has signed an extradition order for Julian Assange, putting the WikiLeaks founder one step closer to facing prosecution in the United States,” Politico reports.
“The U.S. extradition request will still have to be approved by the British courts.”
“President Vladimir Putin said relations between Moscow and Washington were getting worse and worse, noting in an interview published on Thursday that the current U.S. administration had imposed dozens of sanctions on Russia,” Reuters reports.
“Putin made his gloomy assessment ahead of a G20 summit in Japan later this month at which he might meet U.S. President Donald Trump.”
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.
"There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them."
-- Chuck Todd, host of "Meet the Press"
"Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all."
-- Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
"Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
-- Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
"The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom -- nicely packaged, constantly updated... What political junkie could ask for more?"
-- Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.