| | | | Only 1 tweet really mattered this week | | President Donald Trump relishes his ability to drive news via his Twitter feed. One can easily mentally conjure him tapping out a message on his phone in the early morning hours and thinking: "Wait until they get a load of this!"
Trump's Twitter habit -- like all of ours -- has some hits and some misses. The problem for him is that his misses matter A LOT more because, well, he's President and we're not.
Witness Wednesday morning, when Trump wanted to get something off his chest about the ongoing special counsel probe into Russian interference being conducted by Robert Mueller.
"This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further," tweeted Trump. "Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!"
Uh, what? The President of the United States telling his attorney general to fire the guy who is running a probe into Russia's election interference and the possibility of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia? A probe that we know also covers the notion that Trump or his White House may have actively sought to obstruct the investigation?
Trump's White House tried to downplay the tweet, insisting it was simply his opinion and not a directive to Sessions. Riiiiiiight.
Trump's tweet hijacked a week in which the White House was hoping to highlight the strengthening economy with unemployment now at 3.9%. Any attempt to push that economic message was wiped away by Trump's tweet. And that's another wasted week for Republicans with the midterm elections drawing ever closer.
Below, the week that was in Trumpworld -- as told by 18 headlines.
-- Chris
Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday: | | "If Democrats are going to win this year it is not enough to just be better than Donald Trump."
- New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon at Netroots Nation in New Orleans (h/t NBC News' Mike Memoli) | | | MANAFORT TRIAL: JUDGE ELLIS' MEMORABLE LINES | | By the time you read this, the fourth day of Paul Manafort's criminal trial will have ended. Per CNN's Katelyn Polantz, Jeremy Herb and Kara Scannell, special counsel Robert Mueller's team fully transitioned from displaying Manafort's luxurious tastes to explaining to jurors how they say the former Trump campaign chairman lied on his taxes and falsified his bookkeeping to obtain banking loans. (You can read more about what you missed on Day 4 here). But the star of this week? Judge T.S. Ellis. CNN's Liz Stark outlined the most memorable lines of the week from Ellis, who is known as a colorful judge who is not afraid to interrupt prosecutors, interrogate witnesses and even poke fun at himself along the way. Some lines include: - On the jury potentially bringing in cake to celebrate a birthday: "I stopped having those. My wife is younger and I'm waiting for her to catch up."
- On some journalists rushing out of the courtroom during back-and-forth about Manafort deputy Rick Gates' potential testimony: "(They) scurried out of here like rats out of a sinking ship."
- On the use of technology: "I'm not a person of this century. And maybe not last century. I don't have an email account. I never have and never will."
Read the full list here. | | | Sleeping at Last brought the Enneagram personality test to life with his latest songs. "Six" is the most recent one, with "Seven" coming soon. | | | Today's topic: President Trump is planting seeds of distrust in the media that could last for years to come. | | Some JOBS news! The unemployment rate fell to 3.9% and the economy added 157,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday. CNN's Nathaniel Meyersohn reports:
"But workers' average hourly paychecks grew tepidly from the previous month and are up just 2.7% compared to the same time last year. During previous expansions, wages have grown at a faster pace. Economists maintain that wages will rise as economy drains remaining slack from the labor market and businesses pay more to retain workers." Read more here. | | MUELLER TEAM MEETS WITH 'MANHATTAN MADAM' | | Special counselor Robert Mueller's team continues to keep busy. CNN's MJ Lee and Sara Murray, citing four sources familiar with the situation, reported Friday that Mueller's team interviewed Kristin Davis, the woman famously known as the "Manhattan Madam," earlier this week. Per their reporting, "investigators appear to be interested in her ties to longtime Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone, whom she has known for a decade."
For those of you who don't know of the "Manhattan Madam" ... Davis once ran a high-end prostitution ring and went to jail as part of the scandal surrounding Democratic New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, though she was not involved in the specific prostitution service Spitzer used that led to his resignation in 2008. Also, in 2010, she ran for New York governor on a platform that included legalizing marijuana and prostitution. Stone acted as Davis' campaign strategist.
Read more in CNN's full story here. | | A suspected Russian spy was caught working inside the US Embassy in Moscow, CNN's Elise Labott reported Friday. From her story:
"A suspected Russian spy was employed for more than a decade at the US Embassy in Moscow before being fired last year, a senior administration official tells CNN. The woman, a Russian national, worked for the US Secret Service for years before she came under suspicion during one of the State Department regional security office's routine security reviews in 2016, the official said. The security office found the woman was having regular, unauthorized meetings with the Russian intelligence service, the FSB."
Read more here. | | | From Brenna: "Are you, like Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, scratching your head wondering what happened earlier this week? Catch up on some of the week's news in our weekly GIFticle. And tell your friends to sign up for 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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