| | | | Thanks for reading tonight's late edition! The special election in Pennsylvania's 18th district remains too close to call at time of publication of the newsletter. Stay tuned for much more from this key House race in Wednesday's edition of The Point -- and follow along with CNN here. | | | March 13, 2018 | by Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy | | Who's Donald Trump going to fire next? | | On Tuesday, President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson -- via Twitter.
And, according to sources within the White House, there are more changes coming.
So, who might be the next on Trump's chopping block? Here's a look at the likeliest suspects:
1. Jeff Sessions: Trump has publicly attacked the attorney general repeatedly -- calling him, among other things, "beleaguered" and "DISGRACEFUL." He has told not one, but two news organizations that he would not have appointed Sessions as AG if he knew Sessions would recuse himself in the Russia investigation. He refers to Sessions as "Mr. Magoo" in private settings, according to The Washington Post. I mean....
2. Jeff Sessions: See #1.
3. David Shulkin: Not only did Veterans Affairs Secretary Shulkin misuse taxpayer money on a trip to Europe last year, he is also weathering a scathing report from the inspector general regarding a veterans center in DC that has been plagued by poor management. And there are reports that Trump is already moving to replace Shulkin with Agriculture Secretary Rick Perry.
4. H.R. McMaster: Rumors of tension between the national security adviser and Trump have been rampant for months. There's even been chatter about how to move McMaster back into the military in order to get him out of the White House. With Trump jettisoning Tillerson, might he move on another member of the more globally minded wing of his foreign policy team?
5. Ryan Zinke: The Interior secretary was on the receiving end of a slew of negative press last week when word leaked out that the department had paid $139,000 to replace doors in his office space. Zinke pleaded ignorance and said he knew nothing of the expenditure, with his spokesperson pointing to a decision by career employees. Zinke is also facing a series of questions about whether his travel expenditures push the limits of legality.
The Point: Trump seems totally and completely unbound by even the threads of restraint that were in place a month ago. Anything is possible. Literally anything.
-- Chris | | "Rex, eat the salad."
-What President Donald Trump reportedly said to outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a dinner in China's Great Hall of the People in November (per The Wall Street Journal) | | | President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he will nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo to succeed Tillerson. Trump praised Pompeo, saying he was "always on the same wavelength" -- something that he could not say for his now former chief diplomat Tillerson. Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that Pompeo's confirmation hearing for secretary of state will be in April.
Additional reads: | | From CNN's Kevin Liptak: "After 14 months of avoiding California, President Donald Trump on Tuesday landed in SoCal. He visited the US-Mexico border near San Diego and raised campaign cash at a high-dollar fundraiser in Beverly Hills, near where he owns a home."
CNN's Jim Acosta tweeted that while looking at proposed prototypes in San Diego, Trump said he wants to be able to see through his border wall. "You have to have see-through. You have to know what's on the other side of the wall."
In case you haven't been following along...the Golden State and the President don't really get along. The Trump administration declared war on California last week with a lawsuit challenging sanctuary state policies. But, as CNN has pointed out: it's Trump versus California again, and again and again.
In an open letter to Trump on Monday, California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, invited Trump to visit a high-speed rail line in the Central Valley, which he called the "heart of California." "In California we are focusing on bridges, not walls," Brown wrote. "And that's more than just a figure of speech."
Read more of CNN's coverage here. | | | Photo courtesy: CNN/Ashley Killough | | CNN's Ashley Killough sent The Point this dispatch from the Hill today:
In the shadow of the Capitol dome Tuesday was a sobering display of 7,000 pairs of shoes, organized neatly across the grass to represent children who have died from gunshot sounds since the Newtown elementary school massacre.
The global advocacy group Avaaz arranged the campaign as Congress continues to sort through a debate over gun violence and school safety. To arrive at the 7,000 figure, the group cited a 2017 report using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found nearly 1,300 children die from gunshot wounds in the U.S. every year. Avaaz then tallied up the estimated number since the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Read more in her full story here. | | STORMY SPOKE OUT IN 2007, RADIO HOST SAYS | | CNN's Andrew Kaczynski - aka KFile -- reported Tuesday: "Stephanie Clifford, the porn star known as Stormy Daniels, discussed her alleged affair with Donald Trump during a May 2007 radio appearance, a well-known Florida radio personality told his listeners Friday. Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, known as Todd Clem before he legally changed his name in 1999, played portions of the interview on his radio show Friday and Monday, in which Daniels was asked to write down the names of famous men she had slept with. Clem says the first name on that list was Donald Trump. Although neither Daniels nor the host says Trump's name in the 2007 audio, she can be heard describing key details that match the description of her alleged affair with Trump."
Read more here. | |  | | H/T Brenna | | | Thanks for reading the special election edition! Keep on telling people you know to subscribe to The Point. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | | | | |
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