| | | | Trump repeated bogus voter fraud claims today | | This is not the headline Republicans want to read -- and yet here it was, this evening: "Trump talks replacing Obamacare, reiterates unsubstantiated voter fraud claims," by CNN's Manu Raju, Phil Mattingly and Daniella Diaz.
In a meeting with the top eight House and Senate leaders from both parties, Trump brought up two past grievances -- mentioning his inauguration crowd size and reiterating an unsubstantiated claim that 3 to 5 million illegal votes cost him the popular vote, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. Trump also talked crowd size. "It was clear this was still on his mind," Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer told CNN's Erin Burnett.
Why this matters: Trump's White House is making big policy moves -- on trade, health care and taxes, for starters. And he got off to a strong start today with meetings with heads of major companies and labor unions. But Trump's fixation with his own legitimacy -- from losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton but winning the electoral college, to the size of his inauguration crowd -- constantly derails his attempts to sell his agenda. It also raises serious questions about why Trump keeps repeating these debunked claims.
It threatens to tarnish a good day from the White House's perspective. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports Trump was pleased with his first full workday -- and the flurry of meetings and photo ops. He also notes that the photo ops revealed something interesting about the pecking order of the administration: Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon were visible in nearly every meeting, along with chief of staff Reince Priebus. Competing power centers, all front and center. | | Will the GOP's retreat delay Tillerson's confirmation? | | CNN's Senate expert Ted Barrett emails: Republicans are expected to push for a confirmation vote Tuesday for Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state after Monday's confirmation by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Look for Democrats to block that and delay a vote until sometime early next week.
Republicans, who have complained mightily about Democrats stalling confirmation votes for President Donald Trump's Cabinet, are partly to blame for this weeklong delay on Tillerson. That's because the Senate GOP is closing up shop early for the week on Tuesday so they can head to Philadelphia for a joint retreat with House Republicans -- headlined by a visit by Trump.
I asked Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, why they scheduled the retreat right in the middle of the big push to confirm Trump's Cabinet. "I think that was scheduled a long time ago," he said. "Maybe last year is my recollection."
In other confirmation news ... the Senate confirmed Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to become CIA director tonight in a 66-32 vote. | | On trade, can Trump do what past presidents couldn't? | | President Donald Trump carried out his campaign pledge to pull the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- abandoning the deal, which hadn't yet taken effect, through executive action today. It comes after his Sunday announcement that he'll renegotiate NAFTA. Now, the pressure is really on. Trump's bet is that, through his negotiating prowess, force of will and willingness to walk away from the table, he can persuade other countries to accept terms that previous presidents -- from George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton on NAFTA to Barack Obama on the TPP -- have not been able to achieve. Many Republicans are skeptical. Here's my analysis.
Want to know why Trump's task is hard? Look at China. Many voters wrongly believe China was part of the TPP. In fact, just the opposite is true: The Obama administration saw the TPP as a chance to counter China by cutting a deal with all its neighbors, including Japan. White House press secretary Sean Spicer claimed today that China largely does one-on-one trade deals. But that's not quite true: China has been negotiating its own regional pact, and now that the United States has withdrawn from the TPP, China could set the trade rules in the Asia-Pacific for decades to come. President Xi Jinping laid out his ambitions to do just that last week in Davos. "We must remain committed to promoting free trade and investment through opening up and say no to protectionism," Xi said. "Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room. While wind and rain may be kept outside, so are light and air." | | "I enjoyed the President and Sen. Schumer talking about all the people they knew in New York." -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, poking at President Donald Trump and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer after Trump hosted congressional leaders for a meeting today. | | | | Former President George H.W. Bush will be moved out of ICU soon, but he will remain in the hospital for now, his spokesman said today. Former first lady Barbara Bush -- who was also hospitalized in Houston -- has been discharged. | | Sean Spicer complains of 'demoralizing' Trump coverage | | At White House press secretary Sean Spicer's first briefing today, one word stood out: Demoralizing. Spicer used it again and again -- offering a rare peek inside President Donald Trump's psyche -- as he described the tone of coverage the White House feels it's received in its early days, and explained why he'd lashed out (with factually inaccurate claims) Saturday about the size of Trump's inauguration crowd. "The default narrative is always negative. And it's demoralizing," Spicer said at one point.
A sampling of the reaction -- which generally got at the point that it's hard to feel sorry for Trump's claims of negative coverage when he so often is the provocateur: | | Overall, how did Spcier's first briefing go? Here's the dispatch from CNN's Brian Stelter: Spicer's Monday afternoon restart -- fielding questions from reporters after angrily lecturing them two days ago -- received tempered praise from the press corps. But disagreements and concerns remain front and center. On the one hand, Spicer said his intention is to always tell the truth, "never to lie" from the White House podium. On the other hand, he continued to insist that Friday's inauguration of President Donald Trump was "the most watched inaugural" around the world, despite the suspect evidence he presented.
Backtracking on a campaign promise? Another bit of news that stood out in today's briefing: Spicer said the White House was in the beginning stages of discussions on carrying out Trump's pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- as many of his prominent Jewish supporters, including Sheldon Adelson, would like. Spicer said the administration is beginning the process of considering the move. "If it was already a decision, we wouldn't be going through a process," Spicer said.
Another important catch from today's briefing from CNN's Jim Sciutto: | | | Sean Spicer has a long-running Twitter feud with Dippin' Dots. Yes, you read that right -- the company that sells little dots of ice cream in a cup. It's actually pretty hilarious: | | | Dippin' Dots is now in on the action, writing an open letter to Spicer on Monday, saying it's an American company that wants to "be friends rather than foes." The letter: | | GOP senators present an Obamacare alternative | | Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Susan Collins of Maine unveiled a bill they are describing as an "Obamacare replacement plan." They promise that the proposal would give more power to the states on health care policy, increase access to affordable insurance and help cover millions of Americans who are currently uninsured, CNN's MJ Lee reports.
Any state that likes Obamacare can keep it. "Republicans think that if you like your insurance, you should keep it. And we mean it," Cassidy said. "They could opt to stay in Obamacare or they could opt for no federal help. So, California and New York, you love Obamacare? You can keep it." | | US investigating Flynn calls with Russian diplomat | | US investigators are scrutinizing late December calls between Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, and Russia's ambassador to the United States as part of a broader counterintelligence investigation of Russian activities in the United States, CNN's Evan Perez and Jim Sciutto report.
The officials said some of the content of the conversation raised enough potential concerns that investigators are still looking into the discussions, amid a broader concern about Russian intelligence-gathering activities in the United States. But the officials all stressed that so far there has been no determination of any wrongdoing. | | | Caroline Kennedy is home from her tenure as ambassador to Japan -- and eyeing a run for political office. ... Democrats want to know whether President Donald Trump violated his DC hotel lease by taking office. ... Memo to everyone on Twitter: Leave Barron Trump alone. He is 10 years old. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
Post a Comment