Axios

"He puts rivals around him intellectually. You have people like Wilbur Ross ... and Gary Cohn. And he puts those two guys in front of him and says, 'OK, fight out tariffs in front of me.' And they fight it out, the media covers the fight, but ultimately the decision is made ... So the drama is there, but that is how the president makes decisions."

Here's the number of candidates who had filed with the FEC by Dec. 31 to run for Congress (House and Senate), via WashPost's Paul Kane.

• 2017: 1,218 Democrats ... 807 Republicans
• 2009: 881 Republicans ... 591 Democrats
• 2001: 392 Republicans ... 368 Democrats

A majority of Americans have little to no faith that the Trump administration will stop foreign governments from interfering in the 2018 midterm elections, according to an Axios-SurveyMonkey poll. Republicans overwhelmingly trust the administration, but independents and Democrats don't, by large margins.

Why it matters: This is a huge issue that could undermine public confidence in the elections — and President Trump and the White House team are going to face constant questions about it between now and November. Try to think of the last election where the public didn't trust the president to prevent foreign meddling.

President Trump let loose at Washington's annual Gridiron Club dinner, a white-tie event that invites journalists to put on musical performances and politicians are encouraged to "singe, don't burn" (the Gridiron's motto).

Trump joked about Vice President Mike Pence, his love of Fox & Friends, Jeff Sessions‘ refusal to recusal and the fact that he’d “kick [Joe Biden’s] ass.”

"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.