I've spent the weekend calling Trump administration and congressional sources to get a read on what's going to happen with the government shutdown. Nobody could confidently describe the exit ramp, and it seems there's no immediate end in sight.
The bottom line: The only thing everyone agreed on was that Trump is so far dug in that there's little if any chance he'll reopen the government without a concession from Democrats. "Normally at this time [in a shutdown], we know what the exit is and we're just waiting for the clear moment," said a Republican member who is in close touch with Trump. "But there isn't a clear path to an exit."
President Trump chastised his new chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, over his handling of shutdown talks, creating an awkward scene in front of congressional leaders of both parties, according to two sources who were present.
Behind the scenes: The encounter came near the end of a meeting in the White House Situation Room on Jan. 4, these sources said. Trump had spent the meeting restating his demand for $5.7 billion for his wall. (Vice President Pence, at Trump's behest, had previously asked the Democrats for just $2.5 billion.)
Of all the disagreements that drove President Trump and then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis apart, one of the most perilous had to do with blowing up Iranian boats. "Why don't we sink them?" the president would ask.
Acting on an obsession that went back to the campaign, Trump repeatedly asked his national security team for plans to blow up Iranian "fast boats" in the Persian Gulf during the first year of his presidency, according to two sources who directly heard Trump's requests and three other former senior officials briefed on them.
The head of state wants to renegotiate a major free-trade agreement, and there is a deal on the table that has been agreed to by all parties. Now all that's needed is for domestic lawmakers to approve the deal. There are signs they might not be willing to do so. In order to concentrate the legislators' minds, the leader exits the old agreement, leaving a stark choice: Either accept the new one, or embrace the chaos of a no-deal exit.
The big picture: Theresa May pulled this move when she triggered Article 50 in March 2017, raising the specter of a catastrophic no-deal Brexit should Parliament not agree to a deal by March 29, 2019. Now, Donald Trump is thinking along similar lines for NAFTA, with the support of Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley.
Democratic Reps. Elijah Cummings, Adam Schiff and Jerrold Nadler, who head the House Oversight, Intelligence and Judiciary committees, respectively, issued a statement Sunday warning President Trump of obstructing congressional investigations and potential witness intimidation following his comments about his former attorney Michael Cohen during a Fox News interview.
Background: Trump said that — instead of providing federal investigators "some information on the president" — Cohen instead "should give information maybe on his father-in-law, because that's the one that people want to look at" during an interview with Jeanine Pirro on Saturday. Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison last month, will testify voluntarily before House Oversight on Feb. 7.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the idea that President Trump is a threat to American national security "absolutely ludicrous" and "silly on its face" on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday after the New York Times reported that the FBI had opened an investigation into whether the president could be working for Russian interests in 2017.
Background: The FBI investigation was reportedly triggered by Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, and the White House echoed Pompeo's derision of the report, calling it "absurd." The NYT bombshell was followed by a report from the Washington Post on Saturday that Trump sought to hide details of his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin from his own administration officials.
Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro announced his bid for the presidency on Saturday, the New York Times reports.
"When my grandmother got here almost a hundred years ago, I’m sure she never could have imagined that just two generations later, one of her grandsons would be serving as a member of the United States Congress and the other would be standing with you here today to say these words: I am a candidate for president of the United States of America."
The big picture: The New York Times reports that Harris is believed to be "well positioned to create electoral coalitions among Democrats desperate" to beat Trump in 2020. But some worry that in a crowded field of Democratic candidates, Harris may not be liberal enough for voters, and could be in a tough spot if other progressive challengers "try to to move the debate to the left in ways that could force difficult choices for her," the Times explains.
In a tweet Saturday morning, President Trump incorrectly cited criminal statistics from the state of Texas and federal data on immigration.
"23% of Federal inmates are illegal immigrants. Border arrests are up 240%. In the Great State of Texas, between 2011 & 2018, there were a total of 292,000 crimes by illegal aliens, 539 murders, 32,000 assaults, 3,426 sexual assaults and 3000 weapons charges. Democrats come back!"
Reality check: When Trump says "there were a total of 292,000 crimes by illegal aliens," he's actually citing the number of charges filed against undocumented immigrants. The number of actual convictions is much lower, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Trump is correct, however, in his claim that border arrests are up 240%. The timeframe for that statistic is December 2017 to December 2018, CNN reported this week.
Joe Biden has told some top Democrats he’s definitely running for president, and even threw out Jan. 15 as a target announcement date.
"If I’m walking, I’m running," he has told friends winkingly.
What they're saying: His youngest brother, Frank Biden, thinks the former vice president is in. Ditto for some advisers. Several Democrats, including Michael Bloomberg and Terry McAuliffe, are watching him as their most formidable potential competitor.
President Trump unleashed a Twitter tirade Saturday morning in a response to a bombshell New York Times' story Friday night, which reported that the FBI opened an investigation into whether Trump was secretly working for Russia after he fired James Comey in May 2017.
Wow, just learned in the Failing New York Times that the corrupt former leaders of the FBI, almost all fired or forced to leave the agency for some very bad reasons, opened up an investigation on me, for no reason & with no proof, after I fired Lyin’ James Comey, a total sleaze! Funny thing about James Comey. Everybody wanted him fired, Republican and Democrat alike. After the rigged & botched Crooked Hillary investigation, where she was interviewed on July 4th Weekend, not recorded or sworn in, and where she said she didn’t know anything (a lie), the FBI was in complete turmoil (see N.Y. Post) because of Comey’s poor leadership and the way he handled the Clinton mess (not to mention his usurpation of powers from the Justice Department). My firing of James Comey was a great day for America. He was a Crooked Cop
Reality check: Trump's assertion that the FBI opened an investigation of him "for no reason & with no proof" is false. According to the Times, the FBI had its suspicions during the campaign about Trump's relationship with Russia, but only formally opened an investigation after two key moments in which Trump explicitly tied the Comey firing to his desire to end the Russia investigation.
After President Trump fired former FBI director James Comey in May 2017, the FBI opened an investigation into whether Trump was secretly "working on behalf of Russia against American interests," the New York Times reports.
Details: Intelligence officials had their concerns about Trump's ties to Russia during the 2016 campaign, but held off on opening an investigation because of the sensitive and potentially explosive implications that it came with. It was only after Trump twice tied the firing of Comey to his desire to put an end to the Russia investigation that officials decided to launch an inquiry into "whether the president’s own actions constituted a possible threat to national security," per the Times.
