May 29, 2017

'A malaise is setting in': Some DC Republicans resigned to 'long slow death' of Trump's presidency

The Trump White House has been the most scandal-plagued of any new administration in recent history, and it’s starting to wear down Republicans on Capitol Hill.

The Atlantic’s Molly Ball talked with several Republicans in Congress and on K Street, and she came away with the impression that many of them are resigned to the fact that their agenda is going to get swallowed up by assorted Trump scandals.

One Republican House staffer told Ball that while some Republicans think they can fight through the Trump crisis, another group simply believes that Trump’s presidency is doomed to “a long slow death.”

“This is like Reservoir Dogs,” the staffer said, referring to the Quentin Tarantino movie in which the majority of the main characters die at each others’ hands. “Everyone ends up dead on the floor.” Similarly, one Republican lobbyist told Ball that the constant drumbeat of scandals might ensure some GOP lawmakers decide to throw in the towel instead of running for new terms.

“You finally have united Republican government, and this is as good as it gets?” he asked. “Why bother? A malaise is setting in.” And finally, one staffer for a GOP senator who did not support Trump this past fall explained that no one should be surprised that things are going so badly for Trump so soon.

“We didn’t have high expectations, so we’re not disappointed,” the staffer said. “We tried to warn you.”

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http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/a-malaise-is-setting-in-some-dc-republicans-resigned-to-long-slow-death-of-trumps-presidency/

May 29, 2017

Trump expresses 'total confidence' in Kushner

Source: Politico

By POLITICO STAFF 05/28/2017 10:38 PM EDT

President Donald Trump on Sunday said he had "total confidence" in Jared Kushner, his embattled son-in-law, in a statement published by the New York Times.

Jared is doing a great job for the country," the president was quoted as saying. "I have total confidence in him. He is respected by virtually everyone and is working on programs that will save our country billions of dollars. "In addition to that, and perhaps more importantly, he is a very good person.

The statement appeared in an article headlined "Kushner's relationship with Trump tested as Russia accusations swirl."

Kushner, a vital part of his Trump administration from the git-go, has been under fire because of reports that he attempted before Trump was sworn in to establish back-channel connections with Russia that were meant to be obscured from public view. The controversy immediately became just one more part of the ongoing Russia scandals that have plagued Trump's presidency.

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Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/28/trump-kushner-support-238913

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Trump Says He Has Total Confidence In Kushner As His Star Fades At WH

By CAITLIN MACNEAL Published MAY 29, 2017 9:45 AM

-snip-

Jared is doing a great job for the country, Trump [link:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/28/us/kushner-trump-relationship-russia-investigation.html?hp&acti&pgtypeHomepage&clickSourcestory-heading&modulefirst-column-region®iontop-news&WT.navtop-news&_r1said in a statement] to the New York Times. I have total confidence in him. He is respected by virtually everyone and is working on programs that will save our country billions of dollars. In addition to that, and perhaps more importantly, he is a very good person.

Yet despite Trumps public display of support for Kushner, the President has become increasingly unhappy with Kushner, according to the New York Times. Trump was not pleased when Kushners sister pitched EB-5 visas to potential Chinese investors, the Times reported. And the President recently told Kushner to quit pushing for the ouster of Steve Bannon, another top advisor with whom Kushner has constantly butted heads, per the Times.

NBC News [link:http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/kushner-lying-low-after-russia-related-reports-source-says-n765686reported] Monday morning that some in the White House have suggested Kushner lay low after a flood of reports on Kushners contacts with Russian officials before Trump took office. The Washington Post reported earlier in the weekend that some White House aides have discussed that Kushner should have a diminished role in the administration.

Over the past week, the White House has been hit with several news reports about Kushners contacts with Russian officials, as well as reports that Kushner is now a subject in the FBIs Russia probe. Kushner reportedly asked the Russians to establish a secret communications channel with the Trump team through the Russian embassy.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-confidence-jared-kushner

May 29, 2017

The Groundhog Day War in Afghanistan - NYT Editorial Board

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD MAY 29, 2017

It’s hard not to feel a disquieting, even disheartening, sense of déjà vu as the Pentagon presses its request to increase the American forces in Afghanistan. That is where the United States has spent 16 years fighting the longest war in its history at a cost of more than $800 billion and 2,000 American lives. Where there is still no peace, and where everything seems to be going backward. Where the Taliban has regained the initiative, attacking as it pleases and expanding its territorial reach, and where other extremists — Al Qaeda and the Islamic State — also have a foothold.

There are now about 8,400 American troops in Afghanistan. Military commanders have asked for reinforcements of up to 5,000 more. Just a modest increase, they argue, a “mini” surge of troops. But 5,000 troops would boost the American commitment by roughly 60 percent, a sizable reinvestment in a conflict that President Barack Obama had promised was drawing to a close.

It is not unusual for American military commanders to ask for more troops and weapons in pursuit of victory. But can they make a decisive difference? How can 3,000 or even 5,000 more American troops ensure victory when the United States at one point had a force of nearly 100,000 in Afghanistan and was unable to defeat the Taliban and stabilize the country? And what would victory look like anyway?

The commanders have put their proposition to President Trump, and so far he has said nothing. Despite the cost of the American presence, $3.1 billion per month, the matter is not among his priorities and indeed hardly seems to be on his radar. The war received scant attention during the presidential campaign and his only recent acknowledgment of its existence was a meeting last week with the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, in which he commended Mr. Ghani’s leadership and praised the bravery of Afghan troops.

The White House is reportedly divided over the issue. Some experts argue that a surge would allow American advisers to train and assist a greater number of Afghan forces and place American troops closer to the front lines. The Afghans still need help with such basics as managing their motor pool, supplying bullets and gasoline to troops in the field, and administering payrolls. They also need help with intelligence.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/29/opinion/afghanistan-troops-trump-taliban.html

May 29, 2017

Isn't Some of the Trump Hotel Profit Ours? - NYT Editorial Board

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD MAY 29, 2017

When President Trump took office, his lawyers said they had an easy way to solve the legal questions posed by his ownership of a Washington hotel. Since the Constitution’s emoluments clause bans government officials from accepting payments from foreign governments, Sheri Dillon of Morgan Lewis, standing with Mr. Trump next to a mound of files at a made-for-television news conference, said her client would “voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotel to the United States Treasury.”

You didn’t believe that, did you?

Early on, anyone who asked the hotel for proof that it was earmarking foreign government profits for taxpayers was told to wait until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Trump International Hotel continued accepting foreign payments in Washington, where every diplomatically recognized nation has an embassy and where foreigners account for 27 percent of visitor spending, according to the local tourism authorities. Since Mr. Trump won the election, the hotel has been booked for parties thrown by the governments of Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Kuwait, which moved their events from other hotels to Mr. Trump’s.

more
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/29/opinion/trump-hotel-emoluments-clause.html

May 29, 2017

North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch lands in Japan's economic zone

Source: The Washington Post


By Anna Fifield May 28 at 9:45 PM

North Korea launched a new short-range ballistic missile, similar to a Scud, on Monday morning, and it flew about 280 miles to land inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

This launch is North Korea’s third in three weeks and its 12th this year, underscoring Kim Jong Un’s determination to advance his regime’s technical capabilities and his continued defiance of the international community.

“The firing of the ballistic missile of this time is extremely problematic in terms of safety of aircraft and ships,” Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, told reporters in an emergency news conference. “It also clearly violates resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council.”

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, returning from a Group of Seven meeting in Italy, said that Japan will work with the United States to deter North Korea. The White House said President Trump had been briefed on the latest missile launch, which coincided with the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the United States.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/north-koreas-latest-ballistic-missile-launch-lands-in-the-sea-of-japan/2017/05/28/cb072e0e-43f6-11e7-a196-a1bb629f64cb_story.html

May 29, 2017

JFK, the forever-young president, 100 years on - By E.J. Dionne Jr.

By E.J. Dionne Jr. Opinion writer May 28 at 7:26 PM

We cannot imagine John F. Kennedy on his 100th?birthday. For all of us, he will always be a man in his 40s, exuding the vigor that became one of his trademark words, pronounced in his distinctively New England way.

He was a student of history whose rhetoric gloried in the future, challenge and change. He became an icon even though he was an iconoclast. He could be coldly realistic, but he preached idealism. He honored intellectuals but mistrusted abstract thinking and ideology. He promised greater affluence but preached against complacency.

He was a fervent Cold Warrior whose most important triumphs came in the name of peace. He avoided nuclear holocaust during the Cuban missile crisis and negotiated a partial nuclear test-ban treaty with the Soviet Union. He took office with a muscular promise that the United States would “pay any price, bear any burden” in the battle for freedom. But five months before his death, he became a prophet of what would be called detente, describing peace as “the necessary, rational end of rational men.”

There was also the contrast between the organizing slogans of his Democratic forebears and his own. Woodrow Wilson’s “New Freedom” and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” were rooted in broad but specific objectives. Kennedy’s “New Frontier” was more journey than goal, more temperament and disposition than program or wish list. He was a restless figure in a restless time.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jfk-the-forever-young-president-100-years-on/2017/05/28/f62ac0f2-4188-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html

May 29, 2017

Military's clout at White House could shift U.S. foreign policy

By Missy Ryan and Greg Jaffe May 28 at 6:18 PM

When President Trump’s top foreign policy advisers gathered ­recently at the White House to discuss plans to revamp the administration’s Afghanistan strategy, the makeup of those in the room was indicative of a significant turn in U.S. foreign policy.

Seated front and center at the Situation Room table were four current or retired generals who dominate just about every big national security decision Trump makes. The debate, however, was most notable for the voices that were absent.

Intended as a crucial final debate session before the plan went to the president, the meeting took place on a day in which Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the president’s top diplomat, was in New York. His acting deputy attended in his place.

The generals at the table were Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser; Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and two retired four-star generals, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly. Most of those in attendance emerged believing that the Afghanistan plan was ready to go to the president for final approval, U.S. officials who took part in the session said.

Unbeknown to the White House, America’s top diplomat was not on board: Tillerson, who heads a department that some White House officials described as “AWOL” during the review process, didn’t think the plan did enough to address other countries in the region with a stake in Afghanistan, such as Pakistan, Iran and India, a person familiar with his thinking said. Tillerson also was concerned that the plan called for beefing up the State Department’s presence in dangerous locations outside Kabul.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/military-officers-seed-the-ranks-across-trumps-national-security-council/2017/05/28/5f10c8ca-421d-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.html

May 28, 2017

Biden backs Phil Murphy, says N.J. governor's race 'most important' in nation

Source: Politico



By RYAN HUTCHINS 05/28/2017 05:12 PM EDT

LYNDHURST, N.J. — Former Vice President Joe Biden blessed the campaign of New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy on Sunday, describing the upcoming election to succeed outgoing Gov. Chris Christie as the “single most important” of the next three years — even eclipsing the 2018 midterms.

In what was largely a repudiation of President Donald Trump, Biden said Democrats haven’t done enough to acknowledge the problems faced by many in middle-class America and said he viewed Murphy — a former Goldman Sachs executive who served as U.S. ambassador to Germany during the Obama administration — as the man to do so.

“There are a lot of people out there who are freighted. Trump played on their fears,” Biden told a crowd of some 1,200 Murphy supporters packed into a community center gymnasium. “What we haven’t done, in my view — and this is a criticism of all us — we haven’t spoken enough to the fears and aspirations of the people we come from.”

He said his father used to tell him, “I don’t expect the government to solve my problem, but I damn well expect them to understand my problem.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/05/28/biden-backing-phil-murphy-says-nj-governors-race-single-most-important-112380

May 28, 2017

Thanks to Trump, Germany says it can't rely on the United States. What does that mean?

By Henry Farrell May 28 at 2:34 PM

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a crowd Sunday in southern Germany that Europe can no longer rely on foreign partners.

<Merkel on Sunday declared a new chapter in U.S.-European relations after contentious meetings with President Trump last week, saying that Europe “really must take our fate into our own hands.”

Offering a tough review in the wake of Trump’s trip to visit E.U., NATO and Group of Seven leaders last week, Merkel told a packed Bavarian beer hall rally that the days when Europe could rely on others was “over to a certain extent. This is what I have experienced in the last few days.”>

This is an enormous change in political rhetoric. While the public is more familiar with the “special relationship” between Britain and the United States, the German-U.S. relationship has arguably been more important. One of the key purposes of NATO was to embed Germany in an international framework that would prevent it from becoming a threat to European peace as it had been in World War I and World War II. In the words of NATO’s first secretary general, NATO was supposed “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.” Now, Merkel is suggesting that the Americans aren’t really in, and, by extension, Germany and Europe are likely to take on a much more substantial and independent role than they have in the past 70 years.

This is thanks to Trump

Merkel’s comment about what she has experienced in the past few days is a clear reference to President Trump’s disastrous European tour. Her belief that the United States is no longer a reliable partner is a direct result of Trump’s words and actions. The keystone of NATO is Article 5, which has typically been read as a commitment that in the event that one member of the alliance is attacked, all other members will come to its aid. When Trump visited NATO, he dedicated a plaque to the one time that Article 5 has been invoked — when all members of NATO promised to come to the United States’ support after the attack on Sept. 11, 2001. However, Trump did not express his commitment to Article 5 in his speech to NATO, instead lambasting other NATO members for not spending enough money on their militaries. When Trump went on to the Group of Seven meeting in Italy, he declined to recommit to the Paris agreement on climate change, leaving the other six nations to issue a separate statement.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/05/28/thanks-to-trump-germany-says-it-cant-rely-on-america-what-does-that-mean/?utm_term=.de8341cb4d3a&wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1

May 28, 2017

General McMaster, Step Down--and Let Trump Be Trump

General McMaster, Step Down—and Let Trump Be Trump

Save your reputation while you still can. The country will be fine.

By THOMAS E. RICKS May 28, 2017

(Thomas E. Ricks is the author of five books about the modern U.S. military. His most recent work is “Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom.”)

During the presidential transition, when a friend called me to discuss whether he should accept a national security post in the Trump administration, I advised him to do so. My thinking was that the more mature, thoughtful people we had in the administration, the better. But over the last two weeks, I have come to think I was wrong. I no longer believe in the “adults in the room” theory of containing President Trump and the similarly erratic and ignorant people around him.

The prime reason I have come to believe I was wrong was the experience of watching Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump’s second national security adviser, make a series of statements. On the evening of Monday, May 15, he appeared before cameras at the White House to respond to a Washington Post article reporting that the president had shared sensitive intelligence about terrorism with Russian visitors. This information was sufficiently detailed, some intelligence officials feared, that it might enable interested parties to determine the source of that intelligence.

Not so, said General McMaster. “The story that came out tonight as reported is false,” he stated emphatically.

The next day, he appeared again before the cameras. This time his line was: “the premise of that article is false—that in any way the president had a conversation that was inappropriate or that resulted in any kind of lapse in national security.” That’s what people in Washington say when they can’t dispute the facts in a given article, but still dislike it.

more
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/28/general-mcmaster-step-downand-let-trump-be-trump-215199