Axios

President Trump told the Associated Press that a cybersecurity company hired by the Democratic National Committee to examine last summer's hacks is based in Ukraine and "owned by a very rich Ukranian." Neither claim is true.

The Wall Street Journal scoops that President Trump privately told staff he wanted them to prioritize massive tax cuts even if they add to the deficit. Trump, who wants to slash the corporate rate to 15%, reportedly made the comments in an Oval Office meeting last week.Why this matters: We told you recently about the "candy option" for tax reform — all the goodies, with none of the pain. Nothing says "candy" like offering huge tax cuts with no new revenue streams to pay for them. A top Senate source said Trump's tax plan could easily blow a $3 trillion hole in the budget, if he does massive cuts and includes the "Ivanka credit" for childcare.A few problems: Most Republicans won't stand for a plan that makes them look fiscally reckless. Also, it's hard to see how such major cuts would become permanent. The Republicans will likely use a "reconciliation" bill to pass tax reform. This has the advantage of being able to pass the Senate with 51 rather than 60 votes, but its rules dictate that for the cuts to last beyond 10 years they can't add to the deficit. It's difficult to see how even the most optimistic economic growth projections could make up for that loss of income.Between the lines: It's all but official that the so-called "border adjustment tax" is dead. It's the centerpiece of Paul Ryan's House Republican tax plan, and it would raise more than $1 trillion over 10 years by hiking taxes on imports. Nationalists in the White House, including Steve Bannon, love the idea. They see it as an American nationalist tax — hindering foreign importers and helping companies that build stuff in America. But it looks like opponents of the idea, a group that includes about the entire U.S. Senate, have won on this one.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced Monday the Treasury Department will be levying sanctions against 271 employees of the Syrian government agency that produces non-conventional weapons, the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center.

The details: This set of sanctions prevents the U.S. and Americans from doing business with those agency employees. Mnuchin said the sanctions were intended to prevent the spread of chemical weapons.

Why they matter: This comes in response to the Syrian chemical weapons attack from earlier this month as a way to "hold the Assad regime accountable for its unacceptable behavior." The Treasury had already imposed sanctions on 18 Syrian officials and five branches of its military on January 12th.

The issue:

In a call with the International Space Station today, President Trump said that he'd like to get astronauts to Mars "at worst, during [his] second term."

The facts:

Public: The Orion program, the Space Shuttle's successor designed to take humanity out of low-Earth orbit, doesn't have a crewed mission scheduled until 2021, and it's likely to be delayed until at least 2023. NASA won't commit to a firm estimate for a planned Mars mission, saying it hopes it'll launch in the 2030s.

Private: SpaceX's Interplanetary Transport System had been scheduled to launch its first crewed mission in 2024, but that was contingent on a schedule with a first launch to Mars in 2018 — with a spacecraft that isn't scheduled to have its first orbital test until later this year.

Why it matters:

Trump's proposed NASA budget kept Mars funding intact, and political willpower goes a long way in shrinking the notoriously long timescales for spaceflight.

Spicer was joined by U.N. Ambassador Haley and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, who announced sanctions against 271 scientific employees from Syria to punish the Assad regime for its sarin gas attack. Other takeaways:

• Government funding deal: Trump wants increased military funding and increased security, said Spicer, who said the White House remains "very confident" the government won't shut down.
• Trump's 100 days: Spicer says there will be briefings this week to lay out the "unbelievable" progress made.
• The 3% goal: Mnuchin said "3% or higher sustained economic growth" is the target, claiming the plan "will pay for itself with economic growth."
• Timing of new healthcare bill: "This week, next week or the week after... whenever Ryan & GOP leaders have the votes."

Barack Obama spoke at the University of Chicago Monday in his first public appearance since leaving office. He kicked it off by asking the audience: "So, uh, what's been going on while I've been gone?"

His big picture: After a lot of contemplation he's decided his next job should be to "prepare the next generation of leaders."

• Marriage advice: "Just a tip for all you young folks... listening to understand not listening to respond — that'll save you a lot of heartache and grief."
• "I probably wouldn't have been President" said Obama, if photos of him from high school were subject to the type of social media scrutiny that exists today. He warned: "Be careful with those selfies."
• "I'm old... but please, continue," he interjected when a panelist noted that he was in 8th grade during Obama's first presidential election.

During a video conference with NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who just set the record for most time spent in space, Trump informed her he wanted a Mars landing "at worst, during my second term" and that he wanted to speed up that timeline.

The Space biz: POTUS mentioned he has "many friends" who want to get involved in the commercial, entrepreneurial side of Space and mentioned the"tremendous military application in space." When the call connected, Trump praised American equipment for getting the job done: "That's what we like, great American equipment that works."

In the room: Astronaut Kate Rubins at his right and Ivanka Trump at his left, as well as Jared Kushner, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Sean Spicer.

Facts Matter: Getting to Mars on Trump's 2025 deadline

Partisan fighting over the Russia investigation could result in years of investigating before any conclusions are reached by the Senate Intelligence Committee, The Daily Beast's Tim Mak and Yahoo News' Michael Isikoff are reporting.

Sen. Martin Heinrich to Yahoo News: "I would like to see this moving more quickly."

A source told Yahoo News that Sen. Mark Warner, who is on the panel, is "not satisfied, with the pace of the investigation and he doesn't think it's moving fast enough."

President Trump's surprising plan to dine with Supreme Court justices has been taken off his schedule.

• When the White House announced his packed schedule leading up to his 100th day in office, the Thursday night entry said: "[T]he President will have dinner with the Justices of the Supreme Court, including his successfully confirmed nominee Justice Neil Gorsuch."
• The plan had sparked a furor online, after ABC's Jonathan Karl tweeted that it was "highly unusual." Trump is a party to federal cases that might reach the Supreme Court.
• The White House told us Monday that the dinner had been pushed back to a later date.

"Trump, Pence allies rake in millions as new Washington lobbyists," by USA Today's Fredreka Schouten and Maureen Groppe:

• "Brian Ballard, a longtime Florida lobbyist and a fundraiser for both Trump's campaign and inaugural committee, appears to lead the pack, signing up 20 federal clients since opening his Washington lobbying operation this year."
• Avenue Strategies, started last year by Corey Lewandowski, describes him as overseeing "all aspects of a historic presidential campaign where Donald J. Trump won 38 Republican primaries and caucuses and received more votes than any presidential candidate in the history of the Republican Party."
• His co-founder is Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign adviser who managed the presidential campaign of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
• "Stuart Jolly, who worked as Trump's field director in the primaries, recently became president of the Sonoran Policy Group, and the firm has added New Zealand and the Czech Republic as international clients.

A quick rundown of President Trump's first three months in office. Day 100 is on Saturday, April 29.