"The president ... is cutting back [per] doctor’s orders to drop a few pounds ... Less red meat, more fish" and salads, Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs and Shannon Pettypiece report:
"One person said it’s been two weeks since he saw the president eat a hamburger."
"Still, he is allowing himself indulgences. He ate bacon at breakfast one day this week."
A new ESPN report reveals that President Trump and his administration did not have the impact originally believed on the release of three UCLA basketball players from China after a shoplifting incident.
Why it matters: Trump tweeted about his impact several times in November when the players returned to the U.S, at one point saying, "It wasn't the White House, it wasn't the State Department...IT WAS ME." But per ESPN, the players had already been released on bail and given their passports, and told they were free to leave the country three days after the rest of their team.
President Trump is working against the funding for a $30 billion infrastructure project, a rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan, that is considered one of "the most pressing and most expensive infrastructure needs in the country," and "critical to his hometown's long-term economic prosperity," the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: The Post says some believe Trump plans to use the projectm"as a bargaining chip to get Schumer and other congressional Democrats on board" with the massive infrastructure bill going through Congress later this year.
"With the camera lights on, his instincts were to do the right thing," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. The senator criticized Trump for changing his opinion on a solution to prevent gun violence across the nation:
"It makes one feel that when America ... is crying out to prevent future Parklands, the president just succumbs to the group that puts the most heat on him. In this case, the NRA."
President Trump's tariffs could target everyday items like bourbon and orange juice, Politico reports, directly affecting "Republican-run states."
Why it matters: Trump is confident. "[T]rade wars are good, and easy to win," he said. But Bill Reinsch, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Politico a trade war could bring "more industries into the fray" as "one set of retaliation prompts another and then another."
President Trump met with NRA Executive Director Chris Cox on Thursday, after a roundtable on Wednesday during which Trump took positions that are anathema to the group.
Between the lines: This is another reason to believe Trump's shifts on guns, like his shifts in a similar meeting on immigration, will be fleeting. Trump tweeted after the meeting: "Good (Great) meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA!"
