Nov 8, 2017

Top Dem claims Trump is "worst president in modern history"

Rep. Adam Schiff stands next to a photograph of President Donald Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Photo: Alex Brandon / AP

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) went after President Trump in a tweetstorm Wednesday morning, saying "he has repeatedly shown why he is the worst president in modern history." Schiff cited Trump's claim that "millions of illegal immigrants voted," the withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, and that Trump "[threatens] war via tweet."

Why it matters: Schiff is the ranking Democrat of the House Intelligence Committee, which has a role in the Russia investigation. Schiff also said on Tuesday that "the threat from within" Trump's White House is more serious than threats posed by Russia in its attempt to influence the 2016 election.

Schiff's Twitter thread:

Go deeper

Ben Geman, author of Generate
5 mins ago - Energy & Environment

Tallying Trump's climate changes

Reproduced from Rhodium Climate Service; Chart: Axios Visuals

The Trump administration's scuttling or weakening of key Obama-era climate policies could together add 1.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent to the atmosphere by 2035, a Rhodium Group analysis concludes.

Why it matters: The 1.8 gigatons is "more than the combined energy emissions of Germany, Britain and Canada in one year," per the New York Times, which first reported on the study.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Courtenay Brown
50 mins ago - Economy & Business

Boeing's one-two punch

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX was the worst crisis in the plane-maker’s century-long history. At least until the global pandemic hit.

Why it matters: Wall Street expects it will be cleared to fly again before year-end. Orders for what was once the company’s biggest moneymaker were expected to rebound after the ungrounding, but now the unprecedented slump in travel will dash airlines’ appetite for the MAX and any other new planes, analysts say — putting more pressure on the hard-hit company.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Ursula Perano
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

New downloads of TikTok, WeChat to be blocked in U.S. on Sunday

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The Commerce Department issued Friday an order blocking new downloads of WeChat and TikTok in the U.S. as of Sept. 20.

The state of play: President Trump has been in a standoff with TikTok, threatening to ban the app if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not relinquish control to a U.S. company. A deal is in the works with the American tech company Oracle, but would need to go through before Sunday to prevent TikTok from being ousted from app stores.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow