Axios

An apparent North Korean ballistic missile launch and a White House warning that "all options are on the table" with regard to North Korea came within minutes of one another and appear set to further ratchet up tensions between the two countries.

Two senior officials briefed reporters about North Korea in advance of the Chinese President's visit later this week, with one saying:

The clock has now run out and all options are on the table.

The chronology is unclear, but the warning came within minutes of North Korea firing what the US has confirmed was probably a ballistic missile into the East Sea. The DPRK fired it from the Tongchang-ri region, where a missile base is located, per Reuters, which also reports the launch came at 5:36PM ET.

Trump's going to use this week's China summit in Mar-a-Lago to propose a new "framework" for relations, senior Trump Administration officials said today on a background call with reporters. Trump and Xi are spending roughly a day together at the Florida club, with Xi arriving Thursday afternoon and leaving after a working lunch on Friday. It'll be all business, one official said:

It's safe to say there's not going to be any golf

Key points from the phone briefing:

Forbes sat down with Eric Trump, who called nepotism "kind of a factor of life" and spoke about the Trump siblings' relationship with their father, especially as it applies to their role in the family business.

• "We might be here because of nepotism, but we're not still here because of nepotism. You know, if we didn't do a good job, if we weren't competent, believe me, we wouldn't be in this spot."
• "He's a guy, no matter where it is, he expects people to perform. And if they're not performing, he kind of encourages them to go on their way. You know the one thing, Don, Ivanka and I never let him down really in any factor of life. And I think it's one of the reasons that we're as innately close as we are."
• "I don't know if he could have done the presidential thing four years ago. Certainly eight years ago, he couldn't have. I think we probably would have been too big of question marks for him. I think in so many of the deals that we've done…hopefully we earned our stripes. And I think that's ultimately why we're in the seat we're in."

President Trump kicked off the White House CEO town hall Tuesday pledging to "completely destroy" regulations on US companies. Two takeaways from Trump's remarks:

1. Dodd-Frank:

"We're going to do a very major haircut on Dodd-Frank. We want strong restrictions, we want strong regulation. But not regulation that makes it impossible for the banks to loan to people that are going to create jobs."

2. Infrastructure: Trump said he was "willing to take the heat" to get rid of 95% of the federal regulations he said state governments must work through to get a highway built, gesturing at chart illustrating the regulations: "This is anywhere from a 10- to a 20-year process, 17 agencies, hundreds and hundreds of permits...29 different statutes…We're going to be able to get rid of 95% of that…and still get protection."

Who else spoke? Gary Cohn, Elaine Chao, Christopher Liddell, Kevin McCarthy, Wilbur Ross, Dina Powell, Ivanka Trump.

Mike Cernovich is a pro-Trump blogger and social media personality — and he's getting a lot of love from Trumpland these days. Cernovich made an appearance on 60 Minutes Sunday to defend his controversial views, which Kellyanne Conway tweeted about as a "must-see ratings bonanza."

Driving the news: Bloomberg published a story yesterday that Susan Rice had requested that Trump associates be unmasked in incidental collection of electronic surveillance of foreign agents, but the story first came to light Sunday via Cernovich. Donald Trump Jr. tweeted this morning:

The obvious question: Does Cernovich have inside access to White House sources?

Some of his past controversies: A now-deleted tweet saying "Date rape does not exist," accusing political opponents of pedophilia and child abuse — though he claims to have never outright supported Pizzagate. — and putting forth theories about "Sick Hillary" during the campaign, claiming she suffered from seizures and Parkinson's disease.

The Washington Post has an inside look at a Trump transition that "went off the rails almost immediately after the election," according to one source. The highlights:

• President Trump reportedly believed it was bad karma to plan his presidency before winning the election, causing him to become divorced from most of the earliest transition planning.
• The transition team helmed by Chris Christie created binders of detailed materials with hour-by-hour schedules for President Trump's transition and legislative plans for the earliest days of his fledgling presidency.
• The nuts-and-bolts transition in Washington was largely disconnected from the Trump Tower power center, which was only compounded when Christie was forced from his role in an alleged Jared Kushner power-play.
• The original transition document called for Obamacare to be repealed by day 36 of the administration.

Chelsea Clinton told CBS This Morning that she is "definitely not the right person to defeat [President Trump] in 2020," but she does believe that his presidency should inspire young people to become more civically engaged. Check it out:

President Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday night to condemn the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg that left 14 dead and more than 50 injured. From the White House readout:

"President Trump expressed his deepest condolences to the victims and their loved ones, and to the Russian people. President Trump offered the full support of the United States Government in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice. Both President Trump and President Putin agreed that terrorism must be decisively and quickly defeated."

New details: Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, a native of Kyrgyzstan who had Russian citizenship, is believed to be responsible for the attack in the city's subway system. Kyrgyz authorities said in a statement Tuesday that officials are cooperating with Russian security services. Russian investigators also said they believe the suspect was a suicide bomber.

President Trump has signed a Congressional resolution overturning Federal Communications Commission rules that would have required internet providers to get their customers' permission before sharing personal data like browsing history with advertisers. The rules had yet to go into effect.

What's next: Democrats view this as an issue that they can use to hit vulnerable Republican lawmakers, so they'll do what they can to keep it in play politically. Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who supported the effort to overturn the rules, said that he wants "the American people to know that the FCC will work with the [Federal Trade Commission] to ensure that consumers' online privacy is protected [through] a consistent and comprehensive framework."

Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, met with a Russian spy in New York City in 2013 and passed him documents about the energy industry, BuzzFeed News reports.

Victor Podobnyy, the spy, was under cover at Russia's UN office and was later charged, along with two others, with being in a spy ring. He referred to Page as "Male-1" in conversations with another spy and discussed efforts to recruit him, Buzzfeed reports:

"The revelation of Page's connection to Russian intelligence — which occurred more than three years before his association with Trump — is the most clearly documented contact to date between Russian intelligence and someone in Trump's orbit."

Page, an energy consultant, confirmed to Buzzfeed that he was "Male-1". He has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong in his contacts with Russia. He was nixed by the Trump campaign after it emerged that federal investigators were looking into his ties with Russian officials.

The National Archives and Records Administration has informed the White House that President Trump's tweets must be preserved for history, per the AP. That means even if Trump deletes or corrects his tweets, they must be archived to abide by the Presidential Records Act.

It took a while to figure this one out: Axios repeatedly tried discussing the intricacies of the matter with the NARA in January when it told Axios "social media account handles don't matter, in terms of records," but it dodged the questions repeatedly about what Trump would have to do with deleted tweets. Officials briefed the White House counsel's office about the law February 2.

Note: An official told Axios "any records created during the transition period by the President-elect and the Transition Team are not government records."

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services quietly over the weekend released new guidance that computer programmers are no longer presumed to be eligible for H-1B visas.

What it means: This aligns with the administration's focus on reserving the temporary visas for very high-skilled (and higher-paid) professionals while encouraging low- and mid-level jobs to go to American workers instead. The new guidance affects applications for the lottery for 2018 fiscal year that opened Monday.

What comes next: Companies applying for H-1B visas for computer programming positions will have to submit additional evidence showing that the jobs are complex or specialized and require professional degrees. Entry-level wages attached to these visa applications will also get more scrutiny. The change appears to target outsourcing companies, who typically employ lower-paid, lower-level computer workers.

Lawsuits possible: Releasing this policy change at the start of the application filing window is going to rankle companies who used 17-year-old policy guidance to apply for this year's visas. Some companies may challenge the guidance on the grounds that USCIS didn't provide sufficient notice of the change.

UPDATE (6:15 pm Eastern): A USCIS spokeswoman said the guidance is "not a policy change" and is just clarifying existing policy for a Nebraska service center.

• But an immigration attorney following this process said the memo would increase scrutiny for H1-B applicants for the computer programmer job category. The attorney added that most Silicon Valley companies don't hire entry level programmers, and so the real impact of the change would be felt by offshore companies. "It's not an unsubstantial development," he said.
• There is some confusion over the impact of the new guidance. Bloomberg says it would "bring more scrutiny to [applications] for computer programmers doing the simplest jobs." Endgadget reports a misinterpretation of the guidance "caused many to panic" but programmers can still qualify for H-1B visas.
• Separately, USCIS announced new measures today to rein in abuse of the H-1B program.

Related: Sign up for the Axios tech newsletter, Login.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced new measures to rein in abuse of the H-1B program.

The agency will take "a more targeted approach" when making site visits to focus on employers who "are evading their obligation to make a good faith effort to recruit U.S. workers."

Sean Spicer told reporters Monday that President Trump will be donating his salary from the first quarter of 2017 ($78,333.32) to the National Park Service, fulfilling his earlier promise to donate his salary.

Spicer opened the briefing by announcing that Trump will donate his salary from the first quarter of 2017 to the National Park Service. Other takeaways:

• Russia attack: The WH extends their condolences, and the U.S. is prepared to help investigate the attacks. Trump and Putin haven't spoken yet.
• Kushner's Iraq visit: "It's not a binary choice," Spicer said of Kushner going rather than Rex Tillerson. Added that Kushner will be briefed on military efforts while there.
• On Susan Rice: "I don't want to get into motives," said Spicer of Rice's reported request for the names of Trump associates caught up in surveillance.
• H1B visa program: Spicer acknowledged there are problems with the program, but said Trump will enforce the law.
• Trump's pricey Mar-a-Lago visits: Spicer said Trump has "walked away from a lot" financially to be president, and pointed to Trump's $78k salary donation. "At what point does he do enough?"

ProPublica has a look at a previously unreported clause of the document that President Trump used to place his sprawling business empire into a trust upon assuming the presidency. It reads:

The Trustees shall distribute net income or principal to Donald J. Trump at his request, as the Trustees deem necessary for his maintenance, support, or uninsured medical expenses, or as the Trustees otherwise deem appropriate.

Why it matters: This clause allows Trump to take profits from the trust without any form of disclosure, as both the trust and the Trump Organization are privately held entities.

The tax return angle: The only definite way to know if Trump does take profits would be the release of his tax returns, since income from a trust wouldn't necessarily have to be included on POTUS' next federal financial disclosure. A senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center told ProPublica that "for tax purposes, it's as if the trust doesn't exist at all."

Trump was pretty active on Twitter this morning, praising Fox and Friends' coverage, calling out John Podesta's brother Anthony for his alleged Russia ties, and making jabs at Hillary Clinton for failing to ever apologize for her political debate advantage. The tweets:

On Friday afternoon, after a signing ceremony on trade, President Trump sat down with the Financial Times in the Oval Office and gave a blunt, hard-edged interview that foreshadows some tense conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping at their Mar-a-Lago summit on Thursday and Friday:

[H]e made clear that he would deal with North Korea with or without China's help. Asked if he would consider a "grand bargain" — where China pressures Pyongyang in exchange for a guarantee that the US would later remove troops from the Korean peninsula — Mr Trump said: "Well if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you."

Bill Bishop (@niubi) — publisher of The Sinocism China Newsletter, and one of Washington's most astute China-watchers — offered to help Axios AM read between the lines of Trump's interview, and to get us smart ahead of this week's summit:

When President-elect Trump was preparing to move to the White House, some of his aides and security experts conspired to impose more guardrails on his raw, prolific tweeting.

"They tried everything in the book," a top campaign official recalled. Some members of Trump's inner circle feared that what was an undeniable asset during the campaign — the power of authentic, direct communication — might become a mixed blessing as the leader of the free world.

How right they were. Trump has continued tweeting just as before, and the result has been a dilution of the impact — a bit of a "boy who cried wolf" effect. As an example, a former aide cited Trump's repeat this week of his "change libel laws?" crusade. The tweet got little attention.