Over the past three months, Steve Bannon has been reading David Halberstam's book, "The Best and the Brightest." (A NYT reporter spotted him with the book in an airport in December.)
It's a devastating account of self-regard, delusion, and the tragic series of miscalculations that led America into Vietnam. The book shaped Bannon's thinking during the transition, and he recommended it to associates, including Jared Kushner and Anthony Scaramucci, as a warning against hubris.
As his administration complies with a court order to halt the ban on visas from 7 Muslim-majority nations, the president has another tweet on the issue:
What is our country coming to when a judge can halt a Homeland Security travel ban and anyone, even with bad intentions, can come into U.S.?
What's next: We're still waiting on the administration's appeal. In the meantime, State and Homeland are returning to the pre-order status quo.
We've introduced you to Stephen Miller as "the ideas guy and translator who is a true believer in the policies that delight Trump's base." The Charlotte Observer had a look at Miller during his time as a student at Duke that inspired a deeper dive into his college newspaper columns from 2006-2007. Some key quotes to help understand one of the president's key advisers:
That's how the Associated Press describes the welcome given to Trump's Secretary of Defense in Japan and South Korea.
He picked up love from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who noted Mattis served on Okinawa in the 1970s.
And in South Korea, Defense Minister Han Min Koo said long tenures in their respective militaries will make it easy for them to work together.
Why it matters: The U.S. needs its allies in Asia. Trump has already pulled the U.S. out of TPP negotiations, and China is actively working to become the region's dominant player.
Supporters of the border adjustment tax were thrilled to see Donald Trump's late night tweet on Friday:
Countries charge U.S. companies taxes or tariffs while the U.S. charges them nothing or little.We should charge them SAME as they charge us!
Between the lines: Paul Ryan knows he needs the President's enthusiastic backing to push this $1.2 trillion revenue proposal through Congress. Backers of border adjustability — a well-funded coalition that includes Boeing and GE — saw Trump's Friday tweet as a step in the right direction.
Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon already favors the plan to hike import taxes and lower export taxes, but the President has been uncertain. He didn't like the complicated branding of the "tax." As we revealed, however, in several pieces, Ryan has been working behind the scenes to explain the proposal in nationalist (read: Trumpian) terms.
What's next: Trump is hardly a sure thing here. He's still blending the language of "tariffs" and "taxes." This unsettles Republicans. They'll need him to fully embrace the border adjustment proposal — and quit talking about targeted tariffs — to have any hope of persuading a skeptical Senate.
It all started: On Wednesday, the President and his daughter, Ivanka, boarded Marine One in the afternoon for an undisclosed, not-on-the-planner destination.
As Trump passes the two-week mark in office, there are sporadic signs of some semblance of order. Most of it is forced order: by disgruntled Cabinet officials, antsy GOP leaders, and now a Bush-appointed judge.
This will always be a wild ride, but it looks like the safety bars are beginning to come down.
The president isn't taking no from a Seattle judge who put a halt on his temporary refugee ban. In a series of tweets on Saturday morning, he questioned the legitimacy of the judge's "ridiculous" order and promised it would be overturned:
"When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot , come in & out, especially for reasons of safety &.security - big trouble!"
"Interesting that certain Middle-Eastern countries agree with the ban. They know if certain people are allowed in it's death & destruction!"
"The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!"
Trump wasted no time in starting to undo the Obama legacy. Here's a comparison of what the two presidents did at the start of their administrations, and what Trump is doing to erase his predecessor.
You hear "populism" all the time, but that's the wrong label for President Trump's vague ideology. A better one: America-first, Trump-style nationalism.
The Trump administration says it'll oppose a federal judge's ruling against its immigration order:
At the earliest possible time, the Department of Justice intends to file an emergency stay of this order and defend the executive order of the President, which we believe is lawful and appropriate. The president's order is intended to protect the homeland and he has the constitutional authority and responsibility to protect the American people.
Of note: The White House sent two statements. The first called the judge's order "outrageous." The second didn't.
Judge James Robart, appointed by George W. Bush, ruled on Friday night to halt Trump's travel ban, per The Hill. Although the restraining order is effective nationwide, it may only be temporary, according to CBS-affiliate KIRO.
Legal grounds: Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson argued that the ban violates the Constitution's Equal Protection clause of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, due process rights, and the federal Immigration and Nationality Act. He added that "no one is above the law," not even President Trump:
I will continue this fight — all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary — to uphold the rule of law.
There are also lawsuits in Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia challenging the order, although a federal judge in Boston today did not extend a one-week freeze on the travel ban.
