Donald Trump Jr. has reached a compromise with Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) to come to Capitol Hill in mid-June to answer the committee's questions for 2–4 hours, according to sources close to the Senate who have knowledge of the agreement. The New York Times' Maggie Haberman first reported this development on Twitter.
Why it matters: Burr and Trump Jr. appear to have found an off-ramp from what was shaping up to be an unprecedented and bitter showdown between the Republican-controlled Senate and the president's eldest son.
The co-owner of the Red Hen, the Virginia restaurant that refused to serve White House press secretary Sarah Sanders last year, said business one year after the incident was "better than good" and urged other business owners to remember that "resistance is not futile" in a Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday.
The big picture: While top Trump officials getting blacklisted from restaurants isn't making waves in the news like it did last year, restauranteurs in and around D.C. still walk a tightrope as they handle VIP clientele who may invite controversy into their dining rooms, per The Washingtonian.
Beto O'Rourke discussed the criticism surrounding the Vanity Fair profile that kicked off his 2020 presidential run on Tuesday, agreeing with the co-hosts of ABC's "The View" that the spread was "elitist."
What he's saying: O'Rourke said the spread "[reinforced] that perception of privilege," singling out his statement that he was "born to be in" the 2020 race. He focused much of his response on highlighting wage gaps between men and women, as well as wage gaps between people of color and white people, and added, "No one is born to be president of the United States of America, least of all me."
Trump Tower, which has sold several of its condos at more than a 20% loss over the last two years, is now one of the "least desirable luxury properties in Manhattan," reports Bloomberg.
Details: The tower's occupancy rate has tanked for 7 years — well before Trump was elected president. Things aren't much better on the commercial side either with 42,000 vacant square feet of office space. The building's vacancy rate is around twice Manhattan's average, despite the building advertising rent significantly below the area's average.
Steve Bullock, the 53-year-old governor of Montana, is running for president, making him the 23rd Democrat to enter the diverse field of candidates angling to take on President Trump in 2020.
Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke told MSNBC's "'The Rachel Maddow show" Monday he needs to "do a better job" of conveying his 2020 campaign message, after slipping in the polls in recent weeks.
What he's saying: The former Texas congressman told host Rachel Maddow he'd attended more than 150 town halls but acknowledged he needed to "address those who may not have been able to attend them and make sure that they can hear what this campaign is about." O’Rourke said he recognizes that he “can do a better job also of talking to a national audience."
The now-ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and ICE director Ron Vitiello put a stop to a secret White House plan to arrest up to 10,000 migrant parents and children in 10 major cities, the Washington Post reports, citing 7 current and former Department of Homeland Security officials.
Details: The plan, eagerly supported by senior White House adviser Stephen Miller and ICE deputy director Matthew Albence, involved "dramatic, highly visible mass arrests" and accelerated deportations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities — part of the Trump administration's effort to send a deterrence message to migrants crossing the border after its failed "zero tolerance" policy.
President Trump on Monday praised far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his immigration policies, telling reporters: "Probably like me a little bit controversial, but that's OK. You've done a good job and you've kept your country safe."
2020 Democratic candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren pledged Monday to name a former public school teacher as secretary of Education if elected president, blasting President Trump's pick Betsy DeVos as "the worst secretary of education we've seen."
"I’ll just be blunt: Betsy DeVos is the worst secretary of education we’ve seen. She and her team are up to their eyeballs in conflicts of interest. Instead of championing our students, they protect for-profit colleges that break the law and cheat them. ... Let's get a person with real teaching experience. A person who understands how low pay, tattered textbooks, and crumbling classrooms hurt students and educators. A person who understands the crushing burden of student debt..."
As the Federal Trade Commission weighs new regulatory action against Facebook, pressure is mounting in political circles and among company alumni for a tougher remedy — breaking up the social network giant.
Between the lines: There are lots of ideas on the table for regulators in D.C., including imposing new restrictions, adding more oversight, and other suggestions. But the good news for Facebook is that breaking up the company hasn't yet made it to the table, and it's almost certainly not on the FTC agenda.
Monday's White House visit by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — billed as an opportunity to cooperate on energy, trade and security issues — has left Washington divided.
The big picture: Hungary is a NATO member and potential partner in countering threats from Russia and China. Yet under Orbán, the country has witnessed democratic backsliding that presents its own threats to transatlantic security. The meeting with President Trump could undermine U.S. leadership on democratic values and human rights.
Democrats have more than beating President Trump to fret in 2020: They face an uphill battle to win the Senate, and the possibility of losing House seats, too.
Reality check: The Senate looks tough to win back for Democrats, who have suffered a string of recruiting disappointments:
Some of President Trump's supporters in Sioux City, Iowa love liberal populist proposals. They just don't love the 2020 Democrats as the messengers.
Between the lines: A focus group of swing voters — all of whom voted for Trump in 2016 — strongly supported a student loan debt plan that would cancel up to $50,000 in student debt for people whose families make less than $100,000 per year. (That's Elizabeth Warren's proposal, though her name wasn't mentioned in the question.)
Swing voters in three of America’s top battleground states want President Trump to do more on climate change, think the weather is getting weirder and don’t know much about the Green New Deal.
Why it matters: It’s voters like these who have an important role electing America’s presidents. So it's worth listening to them. I watched three recent focus groups of swing voters, conducted by the nonpartisan research firms Engagious and Focus Pointe Global, to learn more.
