Axios

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has requested permission to destroy records pertaining to death and sexual abuse in its detention facilities after 20 years and records of solitary confinement after three, per the San Diego Union Tribune.

• Their reasoning: Sarah Rodriguez, spokesperson for ICE, said in a statement: "This is routine, government record maintenance as prescribed by the National Archives and Records Administration...ICE is working to be in full compliance with the federal records authority."
• Another ICE official said that while "the narrative out there is that we're hiding something," the death, sexual abuse, and solitary confinement files are contained permanently elsewhere.
• The opposing view: The ACLU voiced concerns that this puts "an entire paper trail for a system rife with human rights and constitutional abuse" at stake, and that keeping documents available "is necessary for the public to understand...the operation of a system that is notorious for inhumane and unconstitutional conditions."

The Office of Government Ethics will now allow lobbyists to contribute anonymous gifts to White House staffers' legal defense funds — including those caught up in the current Russia probes, per a Politico report. Lobbyists were previously banned from doing so.

Why it matters, as Politico's Darren Samuelsohn writes: "The little-noticed change could help President Donald Trump's aides raise the money they need to pay attorneys as the Russia probe expands — but raises the potential for hidden conflicts of interest or other ethics trouble."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent President Trump his resignation letter in May — which Trump later rejected — after Trump berated him during an Oval Office meeting after learning that Robert Mueller had been appointed as special counsel for the Russia investigation, per a NYT report.

• Trump blamed Mueller's appointment on Session's decision to recuse himself from the Russia prove, telling the attorney general that he regretted appointing him and that he was an "idiot." Vice President Mike Pence, White House counsel Don McGahn, and other aides were in the room.
• Trump decided not to accept Sessions' resignation after top aides — including Pence, Steve Bannon, and Reince Priebus — told him that it would only result in more discord both with the administration and amongst establishment Republicans.
• Why it matters: The report is the fullest glimpse yet at Trump's distaste with Sessions, who was one of Trump's earliest congressional supporters.

President Trump told reporters Thursday that he won't "do anything" regarding DACA unless the border wall becomes a reality, not necessarily in the legislation he's discussing with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to replace DACA, but at some point in the future:

• "Very important is the wall. We have to be sure the wall isn't obstructed because without the wall I wouldn't do anything... It doesn't have to be here but they can't obstruct the wall if its in a budget or anything else."
• "We're not looking at citizenship. We're not looking at amnesty. We're looking at allowing people to stay here... I just spoke with Paul Ryan, everybody's on board."

Why it matters: Trump, who two hours ago said "the wall will come later," is pulling back on his earlier comments in an effort to appease his base, who have been ripping him apart for agreeing to this DACA framework.

More from Trump"We'll only do it if we get extreme security, not only surveillance but everything that goes with surveillance. If there's not a wall, we're doing nothing.""There was no deal and they didn't say they had a deal. in fact they just put out a statement and they didnt say that at all."Chuck Schumer"We all agreed on the framework... details will matter, but [the dinner] was a very, very positive step" to have Trump agree to seek legal protections for Dreamers."If you listen to the president's comments this morning... what Leader Pelosi and I put out last night is exactly accurate.More on the wall: "The president made clear he intends to pursue it at a later time. And we made clear we'd continue to oppose it... [the wall is] a medieval solution for a modern problem. A Game of Thrones idea for a world that is a lot closer to Star Wars."Nancy Pelosi "We agreed to a plan to work out an agreement to protect our nation's Dreamers from deportation... we would review border security measures that do not include building a wall."On the DREAM Act and path to citizenship: "We agreed on our path."Mitch McConnell "As Congress debates the best ways to address illegal immigration through strong border security... DACA should be part of those discussions.""We look forward to receiving the Trump administration's legislative proposal."Background: The president called the Leader this morning to discuss the need for strong security measures and the need to address DACA.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters she, Chuck Schumer, and Trump agreed Wednesday night "to a plan to work out an agreement to protect our nation's Dreamers from deportation." She added "we would review border security measures that do not include building a wall."

On the DREAM Act and path to citizenship: When Pelosi was asked whether she had "no doubt" that she and Trump were on the same page that Dreamers be able to pursue citizenship through the DREAM Act, she shied away from answering explicitly yes or no. Instead, she emphasized "we agreed on our path." When asked if she trusts the President on this issue, she answered "Now is that a fair question?"

Why it matters: There's no clear alignment between Trump and the Democratic demands on this issue — yet.

Right-wing commentators are taking aim at President Trump for his in-the-works DACA deal that would include increased border security but no funding for the border wall.

Why it matters: Trump's newfound desire for bipartisanship is putting his conservative base in jeopardy. Many of his most feverish supporters voted for him because of his hard line on immigration, and to them this deal makes it seem like Trump's caving on his core promises.

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement responding to President Trump's morning tweets surrounding DACA, agreeing that there was "no final deal" but rather general agreement on the following terms:

• Trump will encourage the House and Senate to enshrine protections granted by DACA into law.
• There will be a bipartisan border security package that still needs to be negotiated — but it will not include the wall, which Trump plans to continue to advocate at a later date.

Confirmation from POTUS: Leaving the White House for Florida this morning, Trump told the pool that "the wall will come later," adding that a deal is "fairly close" with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell both on board, but both sides have to "get past the border security."

Ivanka Trump gave three in-person interviews to the Financial Times for this weekend's edition:

• On her ability to change her father's policies: "Some people have created unrealistic expectations of what they expect from me. That my presence in and of itself would carry so much weight with my father that he would abandon his core values ... It's not going to happen."
• On why she so rarely publicly criticizes her father: "To voice dissent publicly would mean I'm not part of the team. When you're part of a team, you're part of a team."
• So far she and Jared "haven't felt much of a chill" in the liberal New York circles they ran in before the campaign. They know that friends who are happy to trash Ivanka anonymously in newspapers are usually not gutsy enough to do it to her face.
• Read on (subscription).

A study out overnight from Harvard Business School and its U.S. Competitiveness Project, titled, "Why Competition in the Politics Industry Is Failing America," concludes that

• "Our political problems are ... a failure of the nature of the political competition that has been created. This is a systems problem."
• Trump didn't change this: Under Trump, "neither the structure of the politics industry nor its incentives have fundamentally changed."
• Why it matters: "Politics in America is not a hopeless problem, though it is easy to feel this way ... It is up to us as citizens to recapture our democracy — it will not be self-correcting."

Be smart: Each side's unresolved splits — Bernie v. Hillary, and Trump v. GOP — signal the possibility that the two uber-parties could splinter further, with dozens of Democrats seeking the 2020 nomination, and populist Republicans empowered while the establishment tries to reassert dominance.

President Trump has "obviously reflected on what he has said" about the violence in Charlottesville, Senator Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, told CBS News after meeting with Trump. In separate comments to reporters at the Capitol, Scott said it "will take time" for Trump to regain moral authority after he noted there were "very fine people" on "both sides" of the violence in Charlottesville, according to the AP. Scott said he urged Trump to avoid making inflammatory comments about race.

Trump's thinking behind the comments: Trump said he meant to say "that there was an antagonist on the other side," but Scott told reporters "the real picture has nothing to do with who is on the other side…I shared my thoughts of the last three centuries of challenges from white supremacists, white nationalists, KKK, neo-Nazis, so there is no way to find an equilibrium when you have three centuries of history."

Go deeper with Axios' Jonathan Swan: Inside President Trump's meeting with Tim Scott

President Trump has blocked a Chinese government-backed equity firm from purchasing Lattice Semiconductor Corp., an American semiconductor manufacturer, citing national security concerns, per Bloomberg.

• The risks, according to the White House: "The Chinese government's role in supporting this transaction, the importance of semiconductor supply chain integrity to the United States government, and the use of Lattice products by the United States government."
• It's only the fourth time in 25 years that a president has blocked a foreign purchase of an American company.
• Why it matters: The move is reflective of the Trump administration's combative position toward China, especially where the economy overlaps with national security.

Sarah Sanders confirmed Wednesday that President Trump is hosting Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi for dinner tonight, and added that Trump wants to work with "all members of Congress" on tax reform and other legislation if it will help advance his agenda. "This president has done more for bipartisanship in the last 8 days than Obama did in the last 8 years," she said. "I'm basing that on the fact that he's actually willing to sit down with members of the opposite party, something President Obama rarely did."

As for why Trump didn't invite Speaker Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell to the dinner? Sanders said, "You've got the leader of the Republican Party sitting at the table... anybody who thinks the Republican viewpoint isn't being represented is completely misunderstanding that the president is the leader of the Republican Party."

The ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the ACLU of Massachusetts sued the Department of Homeland Security in federal court in Massachusetts today over what they claim are unwarranted border searches of laptops and phones.

The complaint cites 11 plaintiffs, a group which includes 10 U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident. Each of the plaintiffs had their devices searched while returning to the U.S. from personal or business travel, including from Canada, UAE, and Chile. In one plaintiff's case, Customs and Border Patrol officers reportedly choked him and physically restrained him to obtain his phone. DHS has been holding onto one plaintiff's phone since January.

Michael Flynn Jr., the son of President Trump's ousted national security advisor, is now a focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, per a report from NBC News.

• What he did: He was heavily involved in his father's lobbying work with the Flynn Intel Group, even traveling to Moscow for a gala hosted by state-sponsored RT in 2015 where the elder Flynn dined with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this year, he held an official transition email address — but his exact role with the fledgling Trump administration was never made clear.
• Another pastime: The younger Flynn remains active in alt-right Twitter circles and was a vocal supporter of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.
• Our thought bubble: If Mueller wants to flip Flynn to testify against Trump associates, involving his son in the investigation could be a great way to compel him to talk.

Paul Ryan said that he believes that removing DACA recipients from the United States "is not in our nation's interest" at an AP Newsmakers event this morning — with the caveat that immigration reform has to include increased border security.

• More on immigration: Ryan said that a clean DREAM Act is a no-go with his Republican caucus and made the case for some form of a physical barrier: "I think a wall actually works…Circumstances on the ground should dictate what you need at various places."
• Tax reform: According to Ryan, the GOP's goal is to pass tax reform by the end of 2017.
• Trump and Congress: "It gets a little frustrating [for Trump] because Congress doesn't work like a business."

Four White House appointments of people you'll see and hear much more of:

• Hope Hicks — President Trump's most trusted aide, period — was officially named White House communications director.
• Mercedes Schlapp, a former Fox News contributor and George W. Bush aide, will be Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications.
• Raj Shah will be Principal Deputy Press Secretary.
• Steven Cheung will be Director of Strategic Response.

Steve Bannon will speak in Berkeley later this month "as part of Free Speech Week, a four-day event organized by The Berkeley Patriot, a conservative student publication," according to the N.Y. Times.

"New York Times White House correspondents Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush have agreed to do a Trump book for Random House," Vanity Fair's Joe Pompeo reports, noting that both are veterans of the New York tabloid world.