Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) along with several other Democrats on Friday sent letters, obtained by Politico, to two companies demanding information about their business dealings with Jared Kushner.
Why it matters: The request comes after Kushner was accused of self-dealing, based on revelations that his family business received substantial loans from investment firms whose top executives met with Kushner at the White House.
"It's not normal" has become so inadequate to what's unfolding. The N.Y. Times' Mark Landler wins the day with these two paragraphs:
"By day’s end, dazed White House officials were discussing whether Mr. Trump would invite Mr. Kim to come to the United States. That seemed entirely likely, the senior administration official said, though American officials doubt the North Korean leader would accept."
"The announcement capped another day of swirling drama at the White House, in which the president defied his own party by announcing sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and sought to ignore a mushrooming scandal over a pornographic film actress who claims to have had an affair with him."
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 a2013 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.