Axios

After President Trump pulled the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership last year, the eleven remaining countries met to reach a new deal. That trade deal was signed today by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam in Santiago, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: The world is moving on as the U.S. steps back from trade deals such as the TPP. One consequence of the reduced American engagement in Latin America is the influx of Chinese investments and influence.

President Trump's spirit animal Peter Navarro is telling associates he wants Gary Cohn's job as the president's chief economic adviser.

What we're hearing: Publicly, Navarro has been coy, telling Bloomberg TV he's not in the running for the job. But privately, the hardcore nationalist trade adviser is all in for the job. 

Yahoo News has an excerpt from a book out next Tuesday, "Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump," by Michael Isikoff and David Corn. An anecdote from a 2013 steakhouse dinner in Vegas, where Trump was to preside over the Miss USA pageant, owned by his Miss Universe Organization:

[Trump] asked [oligarch Aras Agalarov, known as "Putin's Builder"] what kind of jet he owned. A Gulfstream 550, Aras answered. But the Russian billionaire quickly noted that he had a Gulfstream 650 on order. “If that was me,” Trump replied, “I would have said I was one of only one hundred people in the world who have a Gulfstream 650 on order.” It was a small Trumpian lesson in self-promotion. And Trump, proud of himself, turned to [Rob] Goldstone [who helped bring the Miss Universe contest to Moscow] to emphasize his point: “There is nobody in the world who is a better self-promoter than Donald Trump.”

Five Senate Democrats would lose to Republican candidates if the elections were held today and three have approval ratings under 50%, according to new Axios/SurveyMonkey polls. 

The Libre Initiative is launching an online ad today in which a Dreamer calls for Congress to use the omnibus to pass a permanent solution for Dreamers. "This White House is offering us a pathway to citizenship. We’re so close and now we need congress to step up," he says. The ad is part of a six-figure campaign that targets Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio and Washington D.C.

Why it matters: The Libre Initiative, funded by Koch, is the largest conservative Latino group, and one of few right-leaning groups looking to capture the votes of immigrants and the Latino community in the midterms despite Trump's hardline stances on immigration.

While Congress has been caught in a perpetual argument over whether to require background checks for all gun sales, several states have already acted. Those that have added additional background check laws regarding private gun sales tend to have lower gun death rates.

The Millennial generation, aged 21 to 36, is continuing to grow due to an influx of Millennial-aged immigrants and is forecasted to overtake Boomers in population next year. The generation isn't expected to peak until 2036, at 76.2 million people, according to a study by Pew Research.

By the numbers: 39% of foreign born U.S. citizens and 48% of foreign born non-citizens are between the ages of 25 and 44, according to the 2016 American Community Survey by the Census Bureau.

An exceedingly eager President Trump wants to launch his steel-and-aluminum salvo tomorrow, and Europe is threatening to clamp down on U.S. steel imports that get steered across the Atlantic. Not to mention on the sale of peanut butter, cranberries, orange juice, bed sheets, chewing tobacco and more.

Why it matters: Europe is starting out its threatened retaliation gingerly, affecting only a few billion dollars worth of American goods. But all manner of wars begin gingerly, only to migrate quickly out of control due to factors no one anticipated. At the low end, the cost could be hundreds of jobs, but the industries under discussion employ millions.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday officially announced the DOJ's lawsuit against California, charging that state officials are undermining the Trump administration's immigration agenda and that the state’s “radical” sanctuary cities law is “advancing an open borders philosophy.”

Why it matters: Almost every immigration policy proposal or executive order has been met with litigation, and several items have been blocked in California courts. Sessions also directly attacked Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf for warning immigrants of an ICE raid. "How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of law enforcement just to promote your radical open borders agenda," he said.

When President Trump signed the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, he agreed to report to Congress by March 12 any changes to President Obama’s rules governing the U.S. use of military force and related operations. These changes began in secret last fall with the dismantling of Obama-era limits on drone strikes and commando raids outside conventional battlefields.

Why it matters: Even if the administration meets the deadline, which appears unlikely, it may not make its report public. Human rights groups consider the failure to release and explain changes to a previously public policy a dangerous step backward.

This week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed a decision that gave asylum-seekers and applicants for withholding of removal a right to a full hearing even after deemed ineligible for asylum according to their paperwork. This upended the precedent set by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) four years ago.

Why it matters: This is an attempt to curtail the growing backlog in immigration courts by allowing quicker denials of these kinds of applications without a hearing. Devin O'Malley, a DOJ spokesperson, told Axios the BIA's decision had "added unnecessary cases to the dockets of immigration judges who are working hard to reduce an already large immigration court backlog.”

The White House hasn't done any succession planning, but here's who we're hearing as possible replacements for Gary Cohn as President Trump's chief economic adviser.

Four rumored contenders for the position are: Kevin Warsh, former Fed governor and economic official for President George W. Bush; Shahira Knight, Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, Cohn's top tax official; Peter Navarro, White House trade adviser, who argued for tariffs; and Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior contributor and conservative commentator, who shares Cohn's views on trade.

The Department of Justice is suing the State of California, alleging "obstruction of federal immigration enforcement," Politico reports.

Why it matters: The Trump administration has been battling California over sanctuary laws and immigration enforcement for months now. Just last month, Trump said he would consider pulling Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials out of the state because they were getting no support.

Porn star Stormy Daniels (real name: Stephanie Clifford), who claims to have had an affair with President Trump, filed a suit against him on Monday, NBC News reports.

The details: The suit reportedly claims the non-disclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election is invalid because, while it included a line for Trump's signature, he never signed it. It claims that Michael Cohen, Trump's lawyer, has attempted to "intimidate Ms. Clifford into silence and 'shut her up' in order to 'protect Mr. Trump.'"