Good Tuesday morning!
Good Tuesday morning!
Sources close to the president say that a political dispute with special counsel Robert Mueller has turned visceral and personal after the feds' raid on the New York offices of Michael Cohen, Trump's personal lawyer and fixer.
The president — arms crossed defiantly — held a stunning on-camera venting session during an appearance with his senior military leadership where a potential strike on Syria took second billing to Michael Cohen ("With all of that being said, we are here to discuss Syria tonight").
During the 10-minute rant, Trump ...
Be smart: Close aides are recommending against firing Mueller. But that means little these days.
The big, surreal picture: Take a minute to think about the history unfolding before our eyes. You have the president’s top lawyer getting raided by the FBI, prompting the president to warn of an epic attack on government and signaling he might try to can the special counsel investigating him.
Michael Cohen departs from a House Intelligence Committee in October. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
A former U.S. attorney helps Axios readers interpret the raid:
Mark Zuckerberg is escorted by Capitol Police as he walks in a hallway before meeting with Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) yesterday. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
For a decade-plus, Washington worshiped the power of the tech giants because they were cool and had coin.
When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is sworn in on Capitol Hill today around 2:15 p.m., it'll mark the official start of a new era that will be defined by skepticism, regulation and constant collision.
Be smart ... A longtime Washington maestro texts me: "The next titanic political struggle will be over regulating tech/social media. The government often interrupts the aggregation of economic power over time. These companies have economic and political power. Politicians do not often ignore that combination."
The conversation ... The CGCN Group, a well-wired lobbying firm, says in a memo to clients headlined, "Tariffs, Populism and Mark Zuckerberg":
Go deeper: David McCabe, "Capitol Hill's early reviews for Mark Zuckerberg" ... See Zuck's prepared testimony for Congress.
"Instagram, in all its trivial glory, might be the best hope for Facebook’s future" — Bloomberg Businessweek cover story by Sarah Frier:
Shot ... Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the senator Trump listens to most closely on national security: "As the sparrow cannot fall without the Father, so too Assad cannot launch chemical attacks without Iran and Russia. All three should pay for their barbarism."
Chaser: President Trump, in the Cabinet room session with his military leadership: "We have a lot of options, militarily. And we'll be letting you know pretty soon. Probably after the fact."
"Poised to Balloon to $1 Trillion, U.S. Deficit Fuels Fear of Crisis" — N.Y. Times' Thomas Kaplan, on A1:
N.Y. Times Quote of the Day ... Keith Hall, director of the Congressional Budget Office, which said the annual federal budget deficit is set to widen significantly, topping $1 trillion in 2020:
AP's Ken Sweet: "In the 135 days since the Trump administration took control of the nation’s consumer watchdog agency [the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau], it has not recorded a single enforcement action against banks, credit card companies, debt collectors or any finance companies whatsoever."
"A new national poll of America’s 18- to 29-year-olds by Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP), located at the Kennedy School of Government, finds a marked increase in the number of young Americans who indicate that they will 'definitely be voting' in the upcoming midterm Congressional elections":
Courtesy of Bruce Mehlman of Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas:
See the full deck, "Empowered America."
"Video ads of political candidates driving are a popular campaign gimmick, intended to show they are regular folks," the Wall Street Journal's Reid Epstein writes (subscription):
Thanks for reading. See you on Axios.com.