North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looks like he wants a war, meaning that this weekend's provocative posturing is much more worrisome than in the past.
Taunting Trump, Pyongyang today showed off a "Frankenmissile" — a new type of ICBM that had not been seen before.
Get smart fast: In the past, North Korea has aligned their displays of military force with significant dates. In 2014, hours after the US, South Korea and Japan held a summit to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons capability, the nation tested two midrange missiles for the first time in five years. They tested a Taepo Dong 2, its longest-range and most provocative missile, as the US celebrated Independence Day in 2006.
The bomb dropped on Afghanistan on Thursday killed 94 ISIS members, updated from the original estimation of 36 militants, government officials confirmed early Saturday morning. It was the largest and most powerful non-nuclear bomb the U.S. has ever used. The bomb hit near the Pakistan border, in the Nangarhar province, where U.S. military officials had estimated there were 600 to 800 ISIS members. The bomb struck a group of underground tunnels that the group had been using to carry out attacks against government forces in Afghanistan.
Why it matters: The bomb was deployed to fight against a remote area in Afghanistan that ISIS had taken over by mining it with explosives. Trump said in February he wanted a plan to destroy ISIS in 30 days, so eliminating some of the terrorist group's members was an important goal to achieve — even if he's nearing Day 100 of his presidency.
Trump's take: This was Trump's second major military action in one week, so many were watching closely when the news broke that the U.S. dropped this bomb on Afghanistan. He called the bombing "another very successful job," which came exactly one week after his airstrikes in Syria.
President Trump announced last night he will nominate Scott Garrett to serve as the Export-Import Bank president.
Why this matters: Garrett has openly supported closing the Ex-Im Bank, which he could now lead. He voted twice (in 2012 and 2015) to oppose the reauthorization of the Bank, which would have continued providing loans to companies that export U.S. goods.
Who is he? A former Republican lawmaker in New Jersey, serving in the House of Representatives from 2003 to Nov. 2017. He earned his law degree at Rutgers Law School.
Hundreds of marches are taking place across the country today, pressuring President Trump to release his tax returns. So far, he's stubbornly refused — first claiming that he couldn't release his tax returns because they were under audit with the IRS, then claiming nobody cared about his tax returns and finally sending Kellyanne Conway to say, "It's not going to happen."
Why they matter: The marches only work if they put enough pressure on Congressman to join the efforts in forcing Trump to release his tax returns. So far, there are three ways Dems could manage to get Trump's tax information — through the emoluments clause, subpoena or a petition.
Just this week, Trump tweeted about North Korea "asking for trouble," and offered China better trade deals if they help deal with the "North Korean problem." But the reality is that Trump has used Twitter to discuss foreign policy for years — and mostly to trash-talk other countries.
We've compiled all the tweets Trump has sent since 2013 that targeted different countries and organized them by sentiment. Here's what we found.
Data: Trump Twitter Archive; Note: Tweets from January 7, 2013-April 13, 2017; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon / Axios
CNN's Jay McMichael and crew set up shop on the outskirts of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach and caught the president on his 17th trip to the golf course of his 84-day presidency. Although news of Trump's golf outings are well known, there aren't many photos of him actually hitting the links as president. Check it out above.
The Trump Administration won't be revealing who visits the White House complex, Time reports. And the records of who visited the WH during Trump's presidency won't become available until five years after he leaves office.
On what grounds? The administration will file these as presidential records, using a 2013 federal court ruling that said WH visitor logs can remain private since they aren't subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
Why? Per WH Communications Director Michael Dubke, the decision reflects a consideration of "the grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually."
Context: The Obama Administration disclosed more than 6 million records of visitors during his presidency, although it did try to maintain its right to redact or withhold records, and often left logs incomplete for personal or donor meetings. The Trump Administration's move falls in line with other administrations' take on this issue, per the NYT.
The Winter White House rules: Secret Service doesn't disclose who visits the Mar-a-Lago resort.
The U.S. dropped the "Mother of all Bombs" (MOAB) on ISIS militants in Afghanistan on Thursday, but the White House has so far deferred all questions about the decision to do so.
What they're saying: "This was the right weapon for the right time," Gen. John W. Nicholson told reporters about the MOAB. He explained that ISIS militants in Afghanistan are using caves and tunnels, and our military's ground forces would not have been enough.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren makes it clear in her new book, "This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle Class" (out Tuesday) that she wants to remain central to the Democrats' conversation as they look toward 2020.
We got our mitts on a signed copy. At times, Warren takes the breezily dismissive approach to Trump that may be the key to rankling him in his reelection race, referring at one point to "the hot-air balloon known as @RealDonaldTrump."
When President Trump 2.0 emerged this week with a slew of more conventional Republican positions, a big question was: How long will it last? Trump insiders promise this is more than a mood: It's the result of Trump's instinctive desire to win, after a series of dropped balls. A West Wing confidant told Axios:
We're seeing the working out of his improvisational personality, based on new and immediate inputs.
The Trump administration is telling federal agencies to get smaller and more streamlined. But the size of the federal workforce has remained relatively stable since the late 90s and is a relatively small slice of total government employment. Here's how federal government employment compares to the local and state-level, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: