U.S. EMBASSY OPENS TODAY IN JERUSALEM . DR. MIRIAM ADELSON — Sheldon’s wife — wrote the top story in Israel HaYom, the paper her family owns. The headline is “Big day for Israel and America.” http://bit.ly/2jYPwAZ . SPOTTED in Israel for the opening of the American embassy in Jerusalem: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
— NAHAL TOOSI: “Trump’s Jerusalem bet defies direst predictions” https://politi.co/2jWaW1Y
— NYT’S JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF DAVID HALBFINGER: “As Israel Celebrates Dream of Independence, Many See Nightmare Taking Shape” https://nyti.ms/2IBJDYJ
— WAPO: “As Ivanka and Jared join embassy party in Jerusalem, Gaza braces for violence,” by Loveday Morris in Mefalsim, Israel, Ruth Eglash in Jerusalem and Hazem Balousha in Gaza City: “As Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump watch the plaque being unveiled at the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, 50 miles away the Israeli army will be readying for its nightmare scenario: thousands of Palestinians bursting through the fence with Gaza.
“Demonstrations are planned across the Palestinian territories to protest the U.S. decision to shift its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel’s capital, seen as a major blow to the Palestinian cause.
“But they are expected to be largest in Gaza, where six weeks of demonstrations dubbed the ‘March of Return’ will reach a climax this week. Israeli snipers have already killed at least 49 Palestinians in the unrest at the fence, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and shot 2,240 more.” https://wapo.st/2KYWpPx
MITT ROMNEY lashes out against Pastor Robert Jeffress, who will speak at the embassy opening.
— @MittRomney: “Robert Jeffress says ‘you can’t be saved by being a Jew,’ and ‘Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.’ He’s said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.” . @RobertJeffress: “Historic Christianity has taught for 2,000 years that salvation is through faith in Christ alone. The fact that I, along with tens of millions of evangelical Christians around the world, continue to espouse that belief, is neither bigoted nor newsworthy.”
Good Monday morning. COMING ATTRACTIONS – STEVE BANNON and LANNY DAVIS will debate the topic “What the Heck is Going On in America?” on Tuesday, May 22 in Prague. They will discuss issues like immigration, trade and economic nationalism in a debate hosted by the Czechoslovak Group, a holding company.
176 DAYS until Election Day. A FEW LEGISLATIVE LANDMINES remain. The simmering immigration debate in the House. Seven more GOP signatures sets up an immigration vote on the House floor. Trade policy: Speaker Paul Ryan said last week that he needs to be notified May 17 — this Thursday — of a new NAFTA deal in order to consider it in the lame-duck session of Congress. We have serious doubts about Congress’s ability to ratify a new NAFTA in the lame duck — especially if Democrats take the House. Congress might be faced with an interesting binary: a Trump renegotiated NAFTA or no NAFTA. .
. The farm bill: Our POLITICO Pro colleagues have been chronicling the uphill battle House Ag Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) is waging to get votes for his rewrite of farm policy. This bill is tough in the best of times. Gov’t funding: The White House is trying to convince Congress to pass all 12 appropriations bills on the House and Senate floor before August. That’s fantasy. But the president is clearly itching for more border money, which could spark a massive battle in September, when government funding runs out.
BURGESS EVERETT: “Rand’s rep as Senate rebel on the line”: “Rand Paul is once again the talk of the Senate. The question on everyone’s mind: Will he cave again?
“No other senator has more of a knack for becoming the center of attention seemingly every time there’s a controversial close vote – in the past year alone, he commanded the spotlight on Obamacare repeal, the budget, and now confirming Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks.
“And with the Senate preparing for a nail-biter on Trump’s CIA nominee Gina Haspel, the chamber is abuzz over the latest will-he-or-won’t-he Rand guessing game. The libertarian-leaning Kentucky senator says he’s a hard ‘no,’ but Democrats and Republicans believe he may yet fold under pressure from Trump, as he did with Mike Pompeo for secretary of state.” https://politi.co/2GctFiJ
THE W.H. STORY THAT WON’T GO AWAY . SEN. DAN SULLIVAN (R-ALASKA) on SEN. JOHN MCCAIN — @SenDanSullivan: “Making light of this – especially in the senseless and classless manner that’s been described in the media – is simply sad and speaks more broadly to the low levels of civil discourse & respect that have infected our politics on both sides of the aisle. We all need to do better. As to the White House official who offered such an insult, she should show some respect and apologize”.
— CNN’S JAKE TAPPER and CLARE FORAN: “WH aide told Meghan McCain she would apologize publicly for morbid joke, but hasn’t”: “White House aide Kelly Sadler promised Meghan McCain she would apologize publicly for mocking her father’s health, a source familiar with the conversation has told CNN, but Sadler has yet to do so. … During the phone call, McCain told Sadler she needed to apologize publicly, and the White House aide said she would, according to the source. As of Sunday, however, neither the White House nor Sadler has made a public apology.” https://cnn.it/2rGwlzH
THE SCOTSMAN (“Scotland’s National Newspaper”): “Donald Trump’s Scottish resort paid by U.S. taxpayers for ‘VIP visit,'” by Martyn McLaughlin: “The U.S. president’s resort at Turnberry received more than �5,600 in federal funds to provide accommodation for the trip earlier this year.
“According to a source at the South Ayrshire hotel and golf course, the stay was in connection with Mr Trump’s official visit to the UK scheduled for this July, which is expected to include Scotland in the itinerary. The payment, sanctioned last month by the U.S. State Department, represents the first time one of Mr Trump’s Scottish businesses has received direct federal funding from his own government.” http://bit.ly/2KhSwEg
TRADE WARS — “Penalties against China telecom giant ZTE become a bargaining chip as White House, Chinese officials discuss potential trade deal,” by WaPo’s Damian Paletta, Ellen Nakashima and Steven Mufson: “The White House and senior Chinese officials are discussing a targeted economic deal that would relax severe penalties on ZTE, a major Chinese telecom company, in exchange for unspecified demands from President Trump, two people briefed on the discussions said Sunday.
“The talks are fluid, and President Trump has shown a willingness to veer between extremes in how he interacts with Beijing. . What Trump didn’t reveal publicly is how much the company has become a bargaining chip as the White House tries to extract trade-related concessions from China while pushing for cooperation on sanctions against Iran and North Korea, the people said.” https://wapo.st/2rFieLQ
— TRUMP ON CHINA: ‘BE COOL, IT WILL ALL WORK OUT!” — @realDonaldTrump at 11:01 a.m.: “President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!”
. at 3:22 p.m.: “China and the United States are working well together on trade, but past negotiations have been so one sided in favor of China, for so many years, that it is hard for them to make a deal that benefits both countries. But be cool, it will all work out!”
WHAT ELSE IS ON TRUMP’S MIND — at 4:11 p.m.: “Remember how badly Iran was behaving with the Iran Deal in place. They were trying to take over the Middle East by whatever means necessary. Now, that will not happen!”
— ON THE PARIS ATTACKS: at 8:03 p.m.: “So sad to see the Terror Attack in Paris. At some point countries will have to open their eyes & see what is really going on. This kind of sickness & hatred is not compatible with a loving, peaceful, & successful country! Changes to our thought process on terror must be made.”
THE INVESTIGATIONS — “‘Buckle up’: As Mueller probe enters second year, Trump and allies go on war footing,” by WaPo’s Ashley Parker, Phil Rucker, Tom Hamburger, Bob Costa and Matt Zapotosky: “The investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, which hits its one-year mark Thursday, has formed the cloudy backdrop of Donald Trump’s presidency – a rolling fog of controversy, much of it self-inflicted, that is a near-constant distraction for the commander in chief. The Mueller operation, like the former Marine Corps platoon commander who leads it, is secretive and methodical. Ten blocks west in the White House, President Trump combats the probe with bluster, disarray and defiance as he scrambles for survival.
“The president vents to associates about the FBI raids on his personal attorney Michael Cohen – as often as ’20 times a day,’ in the estimation of one confidant – and they frequently listen in silence, knowing little they say will soothe him. Trump gripes that he needs better ‘TV lawyers’ to defend him on cable news and is impatient to halt the ‘witch hunt’ that he says undermines his legitimacy as president. And he plots his battle plans with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, his new legal consigliere.” https://wapo.st/2KVeXQx
MICHAEL COHEN’S PITCH — “Michael Cohen’s D.C. Consulting Career: Scattershot, With Mixed Success,” by WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus, Peter Nicholas, Michael Rothfeld and Joe Palazzolo: “When Michael Cohen came knocking after the 2016 election, touting himself as the president’s lawyer, a man who could decipher the new administration, Ford Motor Co. said no. So did Uber Technologies Inc. … Mr. Cohen’s pitch was blunt. He would tell prospective clients — large corporations worried about their lack of connections to President Donald Trump’s administration — that he didn’t know who was advising them, but that the companies ‘should fire them all,’ a person familiar with Mr. Cohen’s approach said.
“‘I have the best relationship with the president on the outside, and you need to hire me,’ Mr. Cohen told them, according to this person. Mr. Cohen repeatedly pitched Uber, which said no, citing Mr. Cohen’s ownership of New York taxi medallions as a potential conflict of interest with the ride-hailing firm … He modified his pitch in response those objections, reminding the company he was ‘the president’s lawyer,’ this person said. The company, this person said, was ‘bemused.'” https://on.wsj.com/2KWrcwi
BEN WHITE and NANCY COOK, “Kudlow brings kill ’em with kindness approach to White House”: “Larry Kudlow thinks he can steer Donald Trump’s chaotic White House away from economic disaster by being the nicest guy in the West Wing. Unlike Gary Cohn, his hard-charging predecessor at the helm of the National Economic Council, Kudlow doesn’t yell. He doesn’t have a reputation for knifing policy opponents in the press or badmouthing them to colleagues, as do many aides in the fractious administration. ‘I have opinions, which I will share with the president,’ Kudlow, an avowed free-trade supporter in a mostly protectionist White House, said in an interview Friday in his office on the second floor of the West Wing.
“‘But I don’t keep people out of meetings. It’s not my style. So, I guess you might say I’m lower-keyed. I’m quite respectful of disagreements.’ Instead, he’s trying to avoid the collapse of the North American Free Trade Agreement and a bitter trade war with China – both of which could scramble the world’s economic power map – by seeking consensus with colleagues who are inclined to impose stricter trade barriers, staying close to his boss and wooing members of Congress.” https://politi.co/2wAC5AY
TRUMP’S MONDAY — The president is having lunch with VP Mike Pence.
EVAN OSNOS in the New Yorker’s Political Issue, “Only The Best People: Donald Trump’s war on the ‘deep state’ (online headline: “Trump vs. the ‘Deep State’: How the Administration’s loyalists are quietly reshaping American governance”: “In one agency after another, I encountered a pattern: on controversial issues, the Administration is often not writing down potentially damaging information. After members of Congress requested details on [Ben] Carson’s decorating expenses, Marcus Smallwood, the departmental-records officer at HUD, wrote an open letter to Carson, saying, ‘I do not have confidence that HUD can truthfully provide the evidence being… requested by the House Oversight Committee because there has been a concerted effort to stop email traffic regarding these matters.’
“At the Department of the Interior, the Inspector General’s office investigated [Ryan] Zinke’s travel expenses but was stymied by ‘absent or incomplete documentation’ that would ‘distinguish between personal, political, and official travel.'” http://bit.ly/2GezhJ8
OLIVIA NUZZI in NYMag, “Donald Trump and Sean Hannity Like to Talk Before Bedtime: Life inside the bunker of Fox News’ resident Trumpleganger”: “Their chats begin casually, with How are yous and What’s going ons. On some days, they speak multiple times, with one calling the other to inform him of the latest developments. White House staff are aware that the calls happen, thanks to the president entering a room and announcing, ‘I just hung up with Hannity,’ or referring to what Hannity said during their conversations, or even ringing Hannity up from his desk in their presence. …
“On the phone, he and the president alternate between the ‘witch hunt!’ and gabbing like old girlfriends about media gossip and whose show sucks and who’s getting killed in the ratings and who’s winning (Hannity, and therefore Trump) and sports and Kanye West, all of it sprinkled with a staccato f*** . f***ing . f***ed . f***er. ‘He’s not a systematic thinker at all. He’s not an ideologue,’ one person who knows both men said of Hannity. ‘He gives tactical advice versus strategic advice.'” https://nym.ag/2L0oHsU
SCOOP – “White House Aide’s Plan to Stop Leaks: Spy on His Co-Workers,” by the Daily Beast’s Spencer Ackerman: “A former National Security Council official now working for Attorney General Jeff Sessions explored ways to surreptitiously monitor the communications of White House staff for leaks or perceived political disloyalty to Donald Trump, according to three former Trump NSC officials familiar with the effort.
“Ezra Cohen-Watnick, whom former national security adviser Michael Flynn brought onto the NSC as senior director for intelligence, sought technical solutions in early 2017 for collecting and analyzing phone and other data on White House colleagues for interactions with reporters.
“He portrayed his desired leak hunt as an ‘insider threat’ detection effort, according to the ex-officials. … Some staffers considered Cohen-Watnick’s insider-threat focus ironic, considering that Cohen-Watnick himself reportedly played a role in a Trump White House effort to leak intelligence reports to Devin Nunes, the House intelligence committee chairman.” https://thebea.st/2wNl9r5
JUST POSTED — “The 9 Minutes That Almost Changed America: How The Congressional Baseball Shooting Didn’t Become The Deadliest Political Assassination In American History,” by BuzzFeed’s Kate Nocera and Lissandra Villa: “You don’t know the whole story of how close we came to one of the deadliest political shootings in U.S. history last year.” https://bzfd.it/2rFJb28
THE ADMINISTRATION — “Education Department Unwinds Unit Investigating Fraud at For-Profits,” by NYT’s Danielle Ivory, Erica L. Green and Steve Eder: “Members of a special team at the Education Department that had been investigating widespread abuses by for-profit colleges have been marginalized, reassigned or instructed to focus on other matters, according to current and former employees.
“The unwinding of the team has effectively killed investigations into possibly fraudulent activities at several large for-profit colleges where top hires of Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, had previously worked.
“During the final months of the Obama administration, the team had expanded to include a dozen or so lawyers and investigators who were looking into advertising, recruitment practices and job placement claims at several institutions, including DeVry Education Group. The investigation into DeVry ground to a halt early last year. Later, in the summer, Ms. DeVos named Julian Schmoke, a former dean at DeVry, as the team’s new supervisor. Now only three employees work on the team, and their mission has been scaled back to focus on processing student loan forgiveness applications and looking at smaller compliance cases.” https://nyti.ms/2Gd79Gc
DCCC VS. THE LEFT — “Trying for House Gains, Democrats Bless Moderates and Annoy Liberals,” by NYT’s Alan Blinder in Conway, Arkansas and Alex Burns in NYC: “In a string of important races across the country, national Democrats have been embracing recruits near the political center, hoping they will give the party the chance to compete in states like Utah and Kansas where a liberal Democrat might stand little chance of winning. About a dozen crucial House races this fall are likely to feature Democratic nominees who are positioned markedly closer to the middle than the national party’s activist base – more than enough to determine control of the House.” https://nyti.ms/2ImhSzZ
RACHAEL BADE in IRVINE, CALIFORNIA: “A GOP surprise: House midterm hopes rise in blue California” https://politi.co/2L0FJXF
HMM . “A Former Aide To Two Of The Senate’s Biggest Russia Hawks Is Pushing A Pro-Russia Party Abroad,” by Inga Springe and Holger Roonemaa in BuzzFeed in Riga, Latvia: “A former top aide to Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain is now working to help a leading Russia-friendly political party in upcoming parliamentary elections in Latvia, a small EU nation that has been a fierce critic of the Kremlin’s aggressive foreign policy.
“Christian Ferry, who worked as a campaign manager for Graham and a deputy campaign manager for McCain, has been hired by Nils Usakovs, the mayor of the Latvian capital, Riga, to provide him and his Harmony party with ‘strategic political advice, messaging, and polling concerning the October elections,’ Ferry told BuzzFeed News and Latvian investigative outlet Re:Baltica in an email. …
“Asked to comment on Ferry’s work in Latvia, Graham’s communications director, Kevin Bishop, said: ‘Sen. Graham’s feelings on Russia and Putin are well-known.’ Ferry has experience in the realm – he previously worked as a strategic consultant at Davis Manafort, the lobbying company of former Trump aide Paul Manafort and Rick Davis, and did work for Viktor Yanukovych, the former president of Ukraine who was ousted in 2014 by a popular revolution and fled to Russia.” https://bzfd.it/2IdLcNb
WEEKEND WEDDING — Ashley Koerber, booking producer for Fox News’ “Special Report” with Bret Baier, married Arlington police officer Robert Moir at the Fairmont Hotel in Georgetown on Saturday. “The wedding was officiated by Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt. The happy couple celebrated with 225 friends and family members.” Pics http://bit.ly/2rHBDLd . http://bit.ly/2IeJ9IX . http://bit.ly/2Get5AJ
TRANSITION . Bill McQuillen is now VP of communications at the American Hotel & Lodging Association. He previously was at Burson-Marsteller and spent 15 years at Bloomberg News.
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Howard Wolfson is 51. How he thinks the Trump presidency has gone: “Nothing that the President has done has surprised me. What has surprised me is the extent to which Congress has totally failed to fulfill its obligations as a coequal branch of government to provide the most basic oversight over the Executive branch.” Read his Playbook Plus Q&A: https://politi.co/2KVn3bT
BIRTHDAYS: Mark Zuckerberg is 34 … DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is 46 . J.B. Poersch, president of Senate Majority PAC … Tom Donilon, senior of counsel of O’Melveny & Myers . former Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) is 76 … USA Today’s Christine Brennan (hat tip: Kelley McCormick) … Bloomberg Businessweek’s Josh Eidelson is 34 . Karen Travers, ABC News correspondent covering the White House (h/t her friends in the WH booth) … CNN’s David Gelles (h/t Mark Preston) … Lynn Bartels … Ryan Travers is 3-0 … Sam Newton (h/ts TJ Ducklo and Chris Ortman) … Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) is 64 … Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) is 53 … Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) is 68 … Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Calif.) is 56 … Dari Gessner, chief revenue officer for Politico’s operations in Europe … Jon Vogel, managing partner at MVAR Media … WaPo’s Eva Rodriguez … Connie Lawn . Fiona Theobald, student at Stanford Law … Nicholas Pacilio, comms at Twitter … Alexandra Svokos …
… Lenwood Brooks, VP at SIFMA (h/t Kam Mumtaz) … Dave Marchick … Tyler Law, DCCC national press secretary … Boeing’s Steve Rice . Margaret Little . Michael Williams … Julia Dyer … Audrey Henson, founder and CEO of College to Congress … former Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) is 75 … Cassie Williams of Nahigian Strategies … Patrick Derocher … Gordon James … Nellie Mitchell … Samuel Greer … Alex Katz, senior adviser to Senate Majority PAC . Brigit Helgen, chief of staff for Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) … Bloomberg’s Robert Levinson . Rebecca Adelman … Jocie Fong … Seamus Kraft . Jesse Meisenhelter … Carter Link … Bonnie Feggestad … Sergio J. Grant … David Smith is 55 … Pranay Gupte … Ann Anooshian … Louisa Imperiale … Jeffrey Barrett is 68 … David Johnson … Ed Tydings … Sam Maverick Noble … Jon Pessah is 66 … Kara Allen … Judith Barnett … Cindy Eisenhauer … Bill Green … Deb Moore … Jim Andrews … Casey Slaughter (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)
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