Trump signed a memorandum Thursday afternoon ordering Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to investigate aluminum imports as a threat to national security.
How that makes sense: There's only one domestic supplier of aluminum used in products like military planes and armor-plating for military vehicles, according to the AP. That's "very, very dangerous," as Ross put it Wednesday in a briefing with reporters. Compare that to China, which has surged from taking up 11% of the industry in 2000 to nearly 53%.
The motivation: Trump said the industry has been "severely damaged by unfair foreign trade. Cheap subsidized foreign exports have flooded into the market, destroying thousands of great American jobs."
What it means: This framing allows Ross to impose tariffs on the imports without violating World Trade Organization rules, per the AP. That's the second investigation Trump has ordered based on national security — last week it was steel.
The Pentagon's investigation into foreign payments to former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn dominated a large portion of Thursday's briefing. Spicer said the probe was "appropriate" and that Trump made the right call to fire Flynn.
On whether Flynn was properly vetted: "Why would you re-run a background check on someone... that had and did maintain a high-level security clearance [under the Obama administration]?"
Trump's tax plan: Spicer originally said the plan would remove tax preferences for 401Ks, but the WH later clarified that 401K retirement savings plans would not be impacted by Trump's tax proposal.
On shutdown questions: "The Democrats at the last minute have come in and thrown a lot of monkey wrenches into the ability to get this done despite the president doing everything he can to show good faith."
Trump's NAFTA changes: The focus is on agriculture services, and some areas outside of NAFTA — like dairy.
President Trump and the First Lady welcomed Argentina's President Mauricio Macri and his wife, Juliana Awada, to the White House ahead of their working lunch this afternoon.
Trump called Macri "my good friend of many, many years."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had some colorful criticisms for President Trump at her press conference Thursday, accusing him of "for making fools of members of Congress":
Tax plan: It's a "wish list for billionaires" said Pelosi, emphasizing that it would have cut Trump's taxes by $30m in 2005 (the only year we have returns for, as they were released by Rachel Maddow.)
New GOP health care bill: "The minute they cast that vote they'll put doo-doo on their shoes, a tattoo on their forehead."
Government shutdown: Pelosi said negotiations on passing the omnibus package are ongoing, and they are committed to keeping the government open, but "more progress needs to be made" for that to happen.
On his overnight tweets: They're like a "vampire" that "stalks in the night."
North Korea: Trump "is playing with fire when he's talking about North Korea. We have to exhaust every diplomatic remedy."
Trump's interview with a pair of Politico reporters last Friday gives us a peek into the administration's unconventional style. From White House infighting to the president's "War Room" to his unorthodox decision-making style, it's clear that Trump has made waves in Washington.
Our thought bubble: Trump's record-low approval rating suggests people aren't happy with his presidential style, but his core base of supporters have remained loyal — 93% of Trump voters approve of the job he's done so far. Trump knows his unconventional approach worked on the campaign trail, so he's maintaining that unique style in the oval office. (See also: Trump's campaign rallies, even as president, which continue to bolster support from his base.)
Highlights from the Politico interview: On WH infighting: Trump called his senior aides in one by one — chief of staff Reince Priebus, chief strategist Steve Bannon, and senior adviser Jared Kushner to prove "the team gets along really, really well." Steve Bannon's "war room," what he calls his office in the West Wing, is a scorekeeping hub: it features a whiteboard on which he has written more than 200 of Trump's campaign promises, tracking the president's fulfillments. Kushner refers to the presidency as "entrepreneurial" and in "beta mode," likening it to a business. The media influences his decision: "You don't walk in with a traditional presentation, like a binder or a PowerPoint. He doesn't care. He doesn't consume information that way," said one senior WH official. "You go in and tell him the pros and cons, and what the media coverage is going to be like."
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC Thursday that it appears Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto are ready to start renegotiating NAFTA following their phone calls with President Trump Wednesday afternoon. Trump told reporters Thursday afternoon:
"I decided rather than terminating NAFTA, which would be a pretty big, you know, shock to the system, we will renegotiate. Now, if I'm unable to make a fair deal, if I'm unable to make a fair deal for the United States, meaning a fair deal for our workers and our companies, I will terminate NAFTA. But we're going to give renegotiation a good, strong shot."
On the Twitters: Earlier this morning, Trump tweeted"Relationships are good-deal very possible!"
Why this matters: Yesterday reports surfaced that the White House was considering an executive order declaring that the U.S. intends to withdraw from NAFTA. Trump has long said Mexico is "killing" the U.S. on trade, and his administration has been going head-to-head with Canada on their dairy and softwood lumber trade policies.
Box CEO Aaron Levie isn't shy about speaking out on President Trump's policies, and this week he's in D.C. to meet with administration officials and lawmakers about immigration, education and encryption — among other issues the he and other tech execs are raising.
The broad view: To Levie, these issues aren't limited to Silicon Valley. "Any industry — whether its automotive, health care, banking — all of these are going to be driven by all the trends today that drive a Google, or an Apple or a Box." While tech companies tend to be on the forefront of advocating for these issues, they have broader economic implications for just about every sector these days.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Director Gary Cohn unveiled Trump's new tax plan at the White House today. The plan cuts the top income tax rate from 39.6 to 35 percent, lowers the business rate to 15%, doubles the standard deduction, cuts the top capital gains rate and repeals the inheritance tax. The plan will also eliminate all individual tax deductions, except mortgage interest and charitable donations. Other takeaways:
Foreign Policy magazine got its hands on a 15-page State Department document that provides the most detail we've seen so far on President Trump's plans to gut America's foreign aid budget.
Why this matters: Trump is fundamentally reorienting American power. As Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has made clear, this administration believes in "hard power" more than "soft power." That means boosting the military at the expense of more subtle forms of influence through foreign aid and American missions overseas.
Reality check: Foreign Policy dramatically titles its story, "The End of Foreign Aid As We Know It" — and indeed that would be the case if this budget document ever became law. The reality is it won't, not even close. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a foreign policy hawk, has already declared it "dead on arrival."
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly addressed victims of illegal immigration crime at the opening of the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office (VOICE) Wednesday. The office was initially announced in an executive order from Trump from Jan. 25.
The goalof VOICE is to help people navigate an overcomplicated system after their family members have been subjected to crime committed by illegal immigrants. "We can never fully heal these families, but we can give them a voice," Kelly said. The office will provide quarterly reports on "the effects of victimization by criminal aliens" in the U.S.
How it will work: Immigration and Customs Enforcement will support victims and their families in the aftermath of crimes by directing them to resources — like tracking the immigration custody status of the immigrant in question who committed a crime, or contacting an officer who can explain the immigration enforcement and removal process. As Kelly put it: "All they have to do is dial 1-855-48-VOICE That's 1-855-48-VOICE."
"Trump's trademark talk is full of rambling, aside-filled bursts of simple but definitive words, laden with self-congratulatory bravado and claims that have fact-checkers working overtime," AP's Matt Sedensky writes:
Keep it simple: "Word choice is typically simple — to Trump, things are terrible or incredible, best or worst. Asides are frequent. And repetition is rampant: When Trump wants to get a point across, he makes it again and again."
Method to the madness: "Trump has suggested there's a method to his word choice ... that the simple terms he often opts for can be more effective than the flowery eloquence listeners may be used to from presidents. 'I went to an Ivy League school. I'm very highly educated. I know words; I have the best words,' he said during the campaign."
Historian Kristen Kobes Du Mez: "I don't know that any president has ever used 'super-duper' in his rhetoric before."
The tax plan that President Trump will release today isn't super-specific or super-achievable. But it's a loud White House message to the Hill that the administration — after learning lessons on health reform — will now be less of a bystander.
A West Wing confidant said: "The White House is saying to Congress: You can expect us to do this on other major policy initiatives — health care; immigration; infrastructure; and the budget, particularly defense spending. We let you drive policy on health care, and you drove off a cliff."
President Trump blasted the Ninth Circuit in a tweetstorm this morning, stating that he'll take the ruling that blocked his sanctuary cities executive order to the Supreme Court if necessary:
"First the Ninth Circuit rules against the ban & now it hits again on sanctuary cities-both ridiculous rulings. See you in the Supreme Court! Out of our very big country, with many choices, does everyone notice that both the 'ban' case and now the 'sanctuary' case is brought in... the Ninth Circuit, which has a terrible record of being overturned (close to 80%). They used to call this 'judge shopping!' Messy system."
Fact check: Trump incorrectly called out the Ninth Circuit in his tweet; rather, it was a U.S. district court judge in San Francisco who ruled against Trump's executive order.
Flashback: Trump tweeted "SEE YOU IN COURT" back in February after a federal judge ruled to halt his first travel ban executive order.
Currently the U.S. has the third-highest corporate tax rate in the world, but if Trump succeeds in the tax cut, the U.S. will be among the 20 countries with the lowest corporate tax rate.
