After landing in Lebanon, Ohio, President Trump told reporters he will call King Salman of Saudi Arabia regarding the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who unnamed Turkish officials allege was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The details: Trump spoke to Saudi officials Wednesday about the disappearance of Khashoggi, but has not strong-armed the Saudi government for more information on the matter. Khashoggi went missing after visiting the consulate to retrieve a document required to marry his Turkish fiancee. Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations.
More Americans disapprove of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court than approve, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Why it matters: The 50-48 vote that confirmed Kavanaugh was closest vote on a Supreme Court justice in more than 130 years. Public opinion on Kavanaugh's confirmation and the investigation is just as divided, WaPo explains.
The more consequential internal White House debate over UN ambassador isn’t over who’ll replace Nikki Haley, but over whether it should remain a Cabinet-level position.
Between the lines: National Security Adviser John Bolton, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo all think the role should report to the Secretary of State, per sources familiar with their thinking. Presidents Bush 41 and 43 both demoted their UN ambassadors from Cabinet-level status, while Presidents Clinton and Obama elevated the role upon taking office.
American pastor Andrew Brunson is to be released from custody in Turkey and allowed to travel to the United States, a move that could end a crisis which pushed U.S.-Turkey ties to a breaking point over the past two months, AFP reports. Brunson was sentenced to prison time but restrictions on his travel have been lifted.
Catch up quick: Brunson has been held since 2016 on terrorism charges the U.S. says are baseless. Trump fumed publicly and slapped sanctions on Turkey after the pastor was moved to house arrest in August, rather than released as the U.S. expected. Erdogan seemed shocked by the response and refused to back down.
President Trump is finally fully merging his presidency with television, relishing the mounting amount of time that he's devoting to filling the airwaves — while also ravenously consuming his productions.
The latest: Trump holds forth for an hour or more (much of it ad-libbed) at multiple campaign rallies each week, has added pregame and postgame shows with Fox News hosts to his repertoire, is blitzing Fox News more and more, and recently staged an impromptu "private Oval Office press conference" for New York Magazine.
Almost two-thirds of black Americans say they are "absolutely certain to vote," according to a new survey by The Atlantic and PRRI. And at higher numbers than white or Hispanic youths, black Americans say their close friends are voting, too.
Why it matters: Barack Obama triggered a surge of votes from black Americans in 2008 and 2012, giving him the edge in several states. President Trump could have a similar effect in the Nov. 6 mid-terms — although for the opposite reason
Dina Powell is out of the running to replace Nikki Haley as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, sources close to her tell Axios.
What we're hearing: Powell, a Goldman Sachs partner who was a high-profile aide in the first year of President Trump's administration, told him yesterday that she was honored to be considered but wanted to withdraw from consideration.
Michael Cohen, President Trump's former attorney who until June served as the Republican Party’s deputy finance chair, today changed his party registration from Republican to Democrat, according to a knowledgeable source.
Between the lines: The move fits a pattern of Cohen publicly breaking from the man for whom he once said he’d take “a bullet.” Cohen went online around noon to the Albany-based New York State Board of Elections to make the change, according to the source.
Kanye West discussed gun violence and racism in America at length in a roller coaster, 25-minute appearance in the Oval Office during a meeting with President Trump and former NFL running back Jim Brown, stating that Trump is on a "hero's journey" before ending things with a hug.
The details: West — at the White House to discuss prison reform, a cause championed by his wife, Kim Kardashian — explained his support for Trump, telling him that his "Make America Great Again" hat makes him "feel like Superman." Trump called Kanye's comments "really nice" and "from the heart" and praised both him and Brown as "special people."
President Trump said Thursday during an expansive interview on "Fox & Friends" that he would overrule Attorney General Jeff Sessions if he tries to stop a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill in the Senate, a favorite project of Jared Kushner.
“There has to be a reform because it's very unfair right now. It's very unfair to African Americans. It's very unfair to everybody. And it's also very costly.”
Why it matters: In the past, Trump has been more hesitant on the topic — particularly regarding federal sentencing guidelines — thanks to tough-on-crime Republicans like Sessions and Sen. Tom Cotton. His latest remarks are a victory for Kushner, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Sen. Dick Durbin and other members of Congress who have worked to get the reform bill through the House to find compromise in the Senate.
President Trump called into "Fox & Friends" on Thursday morning for a lengthy 47-minute interview, discussing virtually every hot news topic of the moment.
The bottom line: Trump's freewheeling interviews on the friendly turf of "Fox & Friends" seemingly allow him free rein to speak his mind. He told the hosts that only their program — not even Fox News as a whole — is exempt from the "dishonest media" label.
Discussing potential 2020 opponents on "Fox & Friends" Thursday, President Trump said that Eric Holder "better be careful what he's wishing for," referring to Holder's statement that when Republicans "go low, we kick them."
"He better be careful what he's wishing for. ... That's a disgusting statement for him to make. For him to make a statement like that is a very dangerous statement. ... Holder is — he's got some problems. And I don't see him running. And if he did run, I think he gets gobbled up before he even gets to the election itself."
During a recap of his 2016 election victory at a Pennsylvania rally on Wednesday night, President Trump joked about "the rules of #MeToo," implying they kept him from using the phrase "the woman who got away" when referring to the state's significance for previous Republican presidential candidates.
The big picture: Trump has publicly pushed back on the #MeToo movement recently after Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault and misconduct. He said earlier this month that it is a "very scary time for young men in America" because men are "guilty until proven innocent."
Top foreign policy lawmakers in the Senate on Wednesday enforced a law that requires President Trump to launch an investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and enforce sanctions against any foreign individual found responsible for the matter.
The details: The effort, led by Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker and top Democrat Bob Menendez, requests an investigation under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act that requires the president to give a report to Congress within 120 days. The senators called the disappearance "a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights."
