| | | | Today we met a vastly different version of President Donald Trump.
In less than 24 hours, Trump reversed himself on a long list of the beliefs that have defined his political makeup. NATO is "no longer obsolete," he declared. Trump's federal hiring freeze is no more. And -- in a Wall Street Journal interview that was jam-packed with news -- Trump flip-flopped on Chinese currency manipulation, said that "our dollar is getting too strong" and called the Export-Import Bank "a very good thing." There were reversals on Syria and Russia, too, CNN's Stephen Collinson notes.
Eric's take: To understand the big-league whiplash Trump is giving folks in the trade world, know that flip-flops don't get any more complete -- and counter to a person's previous character -- than this. It's like a North Carolina fan waking up and saying, "You know what, I actually like Duke better." On major issues, Trump abandoned the populism that carried him into the White House and embraced the globalism he had previously made his bones bashing.
Consider this example, about Chinese currency manipulation:
10 days ago, to The Financial Times: "When you talk about currency manipulation, when you talk about devaluations, they are world champions. And our country hasn't had a clue, they haven't had a clue."
Today, to The Wall Street Journal, again about China: "They're not currency manipulators."
And then there's the Export-Import Bank:
On the campaign trail, to Bloomberg: "I don't like it. I think it's a lot of excess baggage. I think it's unnecessary. And when you think about free enterprise it's really not free enterprise. I'd be against it."
Today, to WSJ: "It turns out that, first of all, lots of small companies are really helped, the vendor companies. But also, maybe more important, other countries give (assistance). When other countries give it we lose a tremendous amount of business. ... Instinctively, you would say, 'Isn't that a ridiculous thing.' But actually, it's a very good thing. And it actually makes money, it could make a lot of money."
Trump's tweet tonight: | | The backdrop of all this is ongoing speculation about the future of Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon -- often credited as the man behind Trump's "America First" ideology -- coupled with the rise of another Trump adviser, Gary Cohn. Trump told WSJ that Bannon is "a guy who works for me." And he diminished Bannon's role in the election in an interview with the New York Post, saying: "I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and I didn't know Steve."
A couple juicy tidbits related to a rivalry between Bannon and Cohn. One from Axios' Mike Allen: "In private conversations, (Bannon allies) call him "Globalist Gary." In text messages, the shorthand is CTC (Carbon Tax Cohn) or one simple emoji: 🌎.." Another from budget director Mick Mulvaney's interview with CNBC's John Harwood: Trump has given Mulvaney and Cohn the green light to talk about export credit agencies' role with other countries -- but the Export-Import Bank is "going to continue to exist." CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Sara Murray have more on Bannon.
One more report tonight -- this one from The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and Jeremy Peters: "Mr. Bannon's allies have already begun discussing a post-White House future for him. Last Friday, Mr. Bannon's main political patron, the financier Rebekah Mercer, the daughter of Robert Mercer, a major Trump donor, holed up in her office at Cambridge Analytica in New York, discussing possibilities for Mr. Bannon should he leave, according to two people briefed on the meeting. Mr. Bannon served on the board of the data-mining firm until last summer." | | "That's a butcher." -- President Donald Trump describing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at a news conference with the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. | | | | CNN's Jake Tapper's face says it all: Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser on President Donald Trump's campaign, went on CNN today but declined repeatedly to confirm or deny the FBI had interviewed him. "I have nothing to say about any ongoing investigations," he said. Page denied he was a foreign agent and said the Washington Post report alleging the FBI had received a warrant to surveil him in summer 2016, if true, was a "real game changer." | | Trump credits China with 'big step' on North Korean coal | | President Donald Trump is crediting China with taking a "big step" toward cracking down on North Korea after the Chinese reportedly ordered a fleet of coal-carrying cargo ships returned to North Korea. The development could mark a new willingness on China's behalf to use its economic might to stop North Korea's nuclear program. It comes days after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. The two then spoke on what the White House called a "very productive" phone call Tuesday night.
Trump confirmed China's action in turning away North Korean coal during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. "We have a very big problem in North Korea. And, as I said, I really think that China is going to try very hard, and has already started," Trump said. "A lot of the coal boats have already been turned back -- you saw that yesterday and today -- they've been turned back," he said. "The vast amount of coal that comes out of North Korea going to China, they've turned back the boats. That's a big step, and they have many other steps that I know about."
North Korea's loss is US coal's gain? Reuters, which first reported that the North Korean ships had turned back to their home port of Nampo, citing its Thomson Reuters Eikon financial information and analytics platform, also reported that China is increasing coal orders from the United States. No US coal was shipped to China between late 2014 and 2016, but 400,000 tons had been shipped there from the United States by late February, Reuters reported. | | Echoing a viral tweet about free Wendy's in the same style earlier this week, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon tweeted asking for 18 million retweets to get President Donald Trump to release his tax returns.
Here's the tweet that inspired Wyden: | | 3 things you may have missed today | | Obama to visit Merkel during Trump's first European trip: As President Donald Trump makes his foreign debut in Brussels, Belgium, next month, his predecessor Barack Obama will be sharing a stage on the same day with a key European ally across the border in Germany. Obama will join German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to mark the Protestant church's 500th anniversary. More from CNN's Kevin Liptak.
Kansas gives GOP "warning sign" over Georgia special election: The surprisingly close results of Tuesday's special election for a House seat in deep-red Kansas should serve as "a warning sign" to the GOP, Sen. Ted Cruz said. More from CNN's Eleanor Mueller and Eric Bradner.
Manafort expected to register as foreign agent for past Ukraine work: Paul Manafort's lawyers have been in discussions with the Justice Department and he is expected to register as a foreign agent in a bid to resolve questions about his past work for Ukraine, according to sources briefed on the talks. Manafort led Trump's campaign for nearly five months in 2016. More from CNN's Evan Perez.
| | | The Daily Mail agrees to settle two lawsuits with Melania Trump stemming from an August article that made claims about the first lady's past. ... Several Democratic members of Congress are calling for White House press secretary Sean Spicer to be fired after he incorrectly said Adolf Hitler didn't gas his own people during World War II. ... Not a week after heralding its arrival in a cheeky tweet, Bernie Sanders' new podcast -- "The Bernie Sanders Show" -- is rocketing up the iTunes charts. | | | 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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