| | | | Voter fraud, prayer breakfasts and trouble with Uber | | Is President Donald Trump learning to let personal slights go?
The argument for 'yes': A full week has passed since Trump promised to sign an executive order launching an investigation into voter fraud -- despite the fact that there's absolutely no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and based solely on his inaccurate belief that he couldn't possibly have lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. The executive order hasn't been signed, and the White House says it's no longer a priority for Trump.
On the other hand ... Trump bashed his replacement on "The Apprentice" at the National Prayer Breakfast. And he lashed out at the Obama administration in a call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The next test of Trump's restraint: Uber. In an about-face, the company's CEO Travis Kalanick quit Trump's business advisory council over Trump's executive order banning travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations. "Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that," he said in a memo after speaking to Trump. Keep an eye on Trump's Twitter handle.
What makes Washington Republicans nervous: Per Politico's Josh Dawsey, Tara Palmeri, Eli Stokols and Shane Goldmacher: "A feeling of distrust has taken hold in the West Wing of Donald Trump's White House and beyond, as his aides view each other and officials across the federal government and on Capitol Hill with suspicion." | | White House shifts stance on Israeli settlements | | President Donald Trump -- who campaigned on a pledge to improve relations with Israel and promised to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- for the first time today warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against building new settlements. His position now more closely aligns with traditional US policy.
The White House's statement: "While we don't believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal."
A language difference: The Obama administration often said continued settlements "undermine" the pursuit of peace -- whereas Trump's White House said they "may not be helpful."
There's a great big to-do list waiting for new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Here's what it looks like. | | "I want to just pray for Arnold, if we can, for those ratings, OK?" -- President Donald Trump at today's National Prayer Breakfast -- poking fun at Arnold Schwarzenegger, his fill-in on NBC's "The Apprentice." | | | Arnold Schwarzenegger responded to President Donald Trump with a video in which he proposes: "Why don't we switch jobs?"
The disbelief dripping from the second line in NYT's Michael Grynbaum's take on this back-and-forth today says it all: "To be clear, this is actually happening." | | Progressive fundraising and the Georgia 6th | | We've told you here before that the ACLU raised $24 million in a weekend -- six times its annual online fundraising average. Politico's Scott Bland has a good story today on the spike in progressive donations and social media activity.
What's driving it? One we thought was a good case study:
Take a look at Jon Ossoff, a Democrat running in what'll be a special election in Georgia's 6th District -- formerly Newt Gingrich's, and soon to be vacated by Tom Price once he's confirmed as President Donald Trump's secretary of health and human services. The liberal blog DailyKos.com has already raised $400,000 for his campaign -- more than it raised for any single candidate beside Elizabeth Warren in 2012.
Nightcap asked DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas about the online fundraising explosion on the left today. He emailed:
"The fundraising has nothing to do with Ossoff, and everything to do with striking a blow against Trump. People want to do stuff, and no matter how many actions we throw at them, and how many actions our progressive allies throw at them, and how many actions the crowds themselves come up with, it's still not enough. The feeling isn't 'ugh, we're being asked to do something again,' but 'that was great, what else can we do?'
"So yes, it's all about sending that message to Trump, in a tough district, but a plausible one. And while no one expects Democrats to win it, it would turn the political world upside down if we did, and people are willing to part with their hard-earned cash for merely the possibility of delivering that message." | | | #TBT: In 1870, Republican Hiram Rhodes Revels became the United States' first African-American senator. He was one of the first senators seated when Mississippi re-entered the Union and worth remembering during Black History Month. This picture, from the Library of Congress, was dug up by CNN's Brenna Williams. | | 4 stories you might have missed today | | 1. Border wall ETA: 2 years? "Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says he hopes that President Donald Trump's much-discussed wall along the US-Mexico border will be done within the next two years," Politico's Madeline Conway writes.
2. Corruption concerns over Sessions' seat: A leading candidate to replace Sen. Jeff Sessions, once he's confirmed as attorney general, is the Alabama attorney general, who's investigating Gov. Robert Bentley -- and Bentley gets to fill the seat. From US News' Steven Nelson.
3. Johnson amendment repeal: Trump reiterated a campaign promise that he used to successfully appeal to evangelical voters: a repeal of the Johnson amendment, legislation that limits the ability of religious tax-exempt organizations to endorse or oppose a political candidate.
4. Trump paid his own companies $12.8 million: That's what Politico's Ken Vogel found in analyzing Trump's campaign spending. | | | The House struck an early blow to Obama-era gun restrictions today. ... President Donald Trump is already on the ballot -- sort of. Candidates in the Virginia governor's race primaries are using Trump's first few weeks in office to position themselves. ... A line that made us laugh -- Rep. Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, to CNN's Tom LoBianco after he and other top tax-writing lawmakers met Trump: "I'm going back to my office to find out if 'bigly' is a verb or an adjective." | | | 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. | | | | | |
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