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National

The DNC research team has mined thousands of lawsuits from nearly 50 states as part of a massive new trove on President Trump that will be weaponized through pols and reporters in key battlegrounds.

Why it matters: This new plan shows what Democrats think Trump's biggest vulnerabilities will be. And unlike in 2016, Trump now has a policy record.

Details: The research includes roughly 7,000 lawsuits, as well an extensive document detailing every time then-candidate Trump told supporters at his 2016 campaign rallies that Mexico would pay for the wall. 

A source familiar said this document will likely find its way to local reporters, groups and Democrats in battleground states as Trump diverts funds from the military to pay for his border wall.

The DNC has examples of what farmers and truckers say they feel about Trump's tariffs, the way he's "trashed American wheat," and how the GOP tax law hurt truckers.

They've combed through local news articles and monitored local cable interviews with residents in states like Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Texas to find these folks who are being hurt by Trump’s policies. 

And they've already filed "thousands" of Freedom of Information Act requests to get even more info on the president.

The big picture: Using Trump's specific actions and broken promises is how DNC chairman Tom Perez is advising party officials and surrogates to define him in states he won in 2016 that they think are crucial to their 2020 election efforts.

At a meeting last week with about 20 Democratic operatives and strategists, Perez said the plan is to "make it about [Trump's] performance as president, not his bigotry or awfulness," according to one source in the room. "Prosecute the case that he is bad at his job and it is hurting people in real ways."

Democrats can point to "so many ways his actual policies have really hurt people or how he’s been ineffective in fulfilling his promises," said one Democrat familiar with the DNC's plans to define Trump in 2020.

"Let’s say he goes to Youngstown, Ohio. We have everything he said, what he promised in 2016 to that community — maybe it’s 'that bridge will be fixed' — then we’ll show what’s actually happened since."

Go deeper: Trump allies raise money to target reporters at top media outlets

Inside Democrats' 2020 Trump war room

Unlike in 2016, Trump has a policy record now.

Politics

2020 presidential election

2020 election

2020 conventions

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Striking a big, bipartisan deal on drug prices is one of President Trump’s last opportunities before the election to make good on a sweeping campaign promise — and Trump himself is the biggest X factor.

The big picture: On policy, Trump and Democrats are aligned — but the Dems may not want to make a deal just before the election. On politics, Trump and Republicans are in agreement — but the drug industry is working overtime to pull rank-and-file Republicans back into line.

Driving the news: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will release a drug-pricing plan shortly after Congress returns to work this week after its August recess, a House Democratic aide confirmed. And Democrats will try to keep the issue on the front burner for the rest of the year.

In the Senate, a bipartisan bill barely passed out of committee just before the recess, with several Republicans clearly torn between the White House’s support and the industry’s strong objections.

How it works: Pelosi’s proposal would direct the federal government to negotiate the price of certain expensive drugs with little or no competition — and, crucially, that would also become the price in the private market, not just the Medicare drug coverage price, according to Democratic aides and lobbyists working on the issue.

That’s awfully close to what Trump has endorsed before, but Democrats aren’t eager to share the issue ahead of 2020.

People following the legislative debate suspect that normal partisan politics will likely take control over this particular plan — “except if the president is for it. That will change everything,” an industry lobbyist said.

The drug industry is spending record-setting amounts of cash on lobbying, and it's shoveling campaign cash at Republican senators in an effort to remind them that pharma and Republicans have always been friends.

“I think this is a real test of that alliance,” the industry lobbyist said.

There are signs it’s working, but congressional and administration sources are deeply skeptical that anything will happen:

"Any notion that this will get done easily, if at all, is entirely false," a GOP leadership aide told Axios.

Several GOP senators have watered down their own proposals after once talking tough on the issue, and several said they thought the Finance Committee's bill went too far and were supporting it only with the understanding it would change further.

On top of that, the trade deal known as USMCA has eclipsed drug pricing as the administration’s top legislative priority, congressional and White House aides tell Axios, and as evidenced by the White House’s public push for the trade agreement.

The intrigue: If something happens on drug prices, it’s unlikely to be in a standalone bill, lobbyists said, but rather wrapped up in a broader year-end package that would include a host of other domestic priorities.

That means the politics on drug pricing, unmoored as they are on their own, would be tied up in the politics of everything else in that bill, and also tied up in whatever the general political climate is at that time.

It’s easy to see Pelosi denying Trump a win on a critical issue; it’s also not impossible to see Trump applying last-minute Twitter pressure that brings Republicans on board an otherwise fledgling effort.

The bottom line: “We’re a long way from push coming to shove,” the industry lobbyist said.

The Trump-Pelosi mind meld on drug costs

The drug industry is working overtime to pull rank-and-file Republicans back into line.

Illustration of Trump filling out prescription

Drug prices

Health Care

The U.S. health system faces critical questions about cost, access and equity. Technological advances and new discoveries about diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s are transforming patient care and reshaping public health.

Health

Space

Axios Space

The chairman of India's space agency said Sunday that the country's lunar lander has been detected by a thermal image on the moon's surface, but that the agency is still trying to establish contact, Asian News International reports.

Driving the news: India's attempt to land a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon for the first time on Friday appeared to have failed, with "communication from the lander to the ground stations" lost, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation's Mission Control Centre.

Why it matters: If the Vikram lander did touch down and mission control can establish communication, it would make the nation only the 4th — after the former Soviet Union, the U.S. and China — to successfully operate a mission on the lunar surface.

K. Sivan, the director of the Indian Space Research Organisation, told Asian News International it's uncertain what condition the spacecraft is in and that it's "premature to say anything." 

Details: It's not yet clear why the lander lost contact with Mission Control just before it was expected to land.

Vikram separated from the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter around the Moon on Sept. 2 and slowly started to descend, losing speed and preparing for landing in the Moon's south polar region.

Vikram and the small Pragyaan rover it carried were expected to investigate the water-ice environment on that part of the Moon. 

Scientists have long thought that the Moon's poles likely contain a fair amount of ice, which researchers think might be able to be converted into fuel for farther afield missions one day.

The big picture: India has been working to cement itself as a space superpower.

Earlier this year, the nation launched a test of an anti-satellite system that created hundreds of pieces of space debris in low-Earth orbit and drew criticism from the international community. China, Russia and the U.S. have also successfully tested their own anti-satellite systems.

India inserted a spacecraft in orbit around Mars in 2014, where it's still gathering data today.

Context: If communication with the lander is not established, this will be the second lunar landing failure this year. The main engine of Israel's Beresheet lander malfunctioned just ahead of its own expected touchdown on the Moon in April.

Go deeper ... Factory Moon: Axios' special report on Earth's nearest neighbor

India's space agency detects missing lunar lander on moon's surface

The landing would have made India just the 4th country to successfully land on the lunar surface.

Science

World

News and analysis of the scientific advances fueling AI and quantum computing, revolutionizing biology and medicine, and tackling climate change. Science is changing the world and colliding with the global politics that shape it.

Trade between China and the United States has continued to fall ahead of October negotiations and a further tit-for-tat escalation of tariffs, according to customs data reported by AP.

The big picture: Imports of American products to China dropped to $10.3 billion in August, down 22% from the same month last year. Chinese exports to the U.S. also plummeted to $44.4 billion in August, down 16%. China's trade surplus with the U.S. shrunk to $31.3 billion in August, down $27 billion from a year prior. 

Both sides of the escalating trade war hiked tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods last month, disrupting industries ranging from agriculture to the auto sector to consumer products.

Talks between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this summer ended without a deal. Negotiators are set to meet again in October, with Trump planning additional tariff increases on Oct. 1 and Dec. 15.

On Sept. 1, the U.S. imposed a 15% tariff on $112 billion worth of Chinese goods. China retaliated by resuming 25% tariffs on American cars and adding 5–10% tariffs on $75 billion worth of goods.

On Oct. 1, Trump will increase existing tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods from 25% to 30%.

On Dec. 15, the U.S. will hit another batch of $160 billion of Chinese imports with 15% tariffs, originally delayed to reduce the impact on Christmas shoppers. China will retaliate with its second batch of tariffs on $75 billion of American goods.

Between the lines: Per AP, "Some analysts suggest Beijing is holding out in hopes Trump will feel pressure to make a more favorable deal as his campaign for the 2020 presidential election picks up. Trump has warned that if he is reelected, China will face a tougher U.S. negotiating stance."

Top Trump officials increasingly view China as a national security threat

Trade between U.S. and China plummets ahead of October negotiations

Imports of American products to China dropped to $10.3 billion in August, down 22% from last year.

U.S. China trade war

Business

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford announced on "Fox News Sunday" that he is launching a primary challenge against President Trump.

Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace-9 31 21 Am - 9 33 03 Am-2019-09-08

"As a Republican Party, we have lost our way, and I'd say so on a couple of different fronts. First and sort of the epicenter of where I'm coming from is that we have lost our way on debt and deficits and spending. One of the hallmarks of the Republican Party and the conservative movement has always been how much do we spend. ... I think as a party we've lost our way. The president has called himself the king of debt, has a familiarity and comfort level with debt that I think is ultimately leading us in the wrong direction."

The big picture: Sanford, who lost his congressional primary in 2018 after Trump encouraged voters to ditch him, joins former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and former Gov. Bill Weld (R-Mass.) in the long-shot effort to oust Trump as the Republican nominee in 2020. Trump enjoys a near-90% approval rating in the Republican Party and is unlikely to be defeated in a primary.

Sanford is well-known for a scandal in which he disappeared for a week in 2009, telling his staff that he would be hiking on the Appalachian Trail. In reality, the then-married governor was engaged in an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina.

Sanford addressed the controversy on Fox, telling Chris Wallace:

"I actually went on an apology tour, if you want to call it that, back home in the wake of that for the last year and a half of my governorship. And what I learned through that is, I guess what General Mattis talks about. The mistakes in life, mistakes that we make, are the great tuitions of life. They cost us, but you can learn from them. And for me, I learned a level of humility, a level of empathy that I didn't have before, a level of judgment. It is something of great regret. It's something I have apologized extensively for and in contrast to the president when he says there's not a single thing that he sort of regrets or apologizes for. I profoundly apologize for that.

Worth noting: Both Kansas and South Carolina's Republican parties shuttered their 2020 presidential primaries last week, making the long-shot GOP challengers even less likely to succeed. 

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Mark Sanford announces GOP primary challenge against Trump

Sanford is a former South Carolina governor and congressman.

Mark Sanford

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday responded to backlash over the news that President Trump had invited the Taliban to Camp David for secret Afghanistan peace talks, arguing on ABC News' "This Week": "If you're going to negotiate peace, you often have to deal with some pretty bad actors."

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"I know the history, too, at Camp David. Indeed, President Trump reflected on that — we all considered when debating how to try and get to the right ultimate outcome. Well, there have often been discussions about war at Camp David. There have been discussions about peace there as well. There have been some been pretty bad actors travel through that place throughout recorded history. It's an important place. It's a place where we thought we could convince all the leaders of Afghanistan — President Ghani and his team, as well as the Taliban — we could convince them to begin to head in a direction that would create better conditions on the ground in Afghanistan not only for the Afghans, but better security for the American people as well."

Context: Trump tweeted on Saturday night that he had called off the secret meeting after the Taliban claimed responsibility for a bombing in Kabul that killed an American soldier, a Romanian service member and 10 civilians on Thursday.

The idea that a militant group the U.S. has been fighting against for years would be invited to the presidential retreat at Camp David — and on the week of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks — sparked anger from both Republicans and Democrats.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.): "Never should leaders of a terrorist organization that hasn’t renounced 9/11 and continues in evil be allowed in our great country.  NEVER. Full stop."

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.): Camp David is where America’s leaders met to plan our response after al Qaeda, supported by the Taliban, killed 3000 Americans on 9/11. No member of the Taliban should set foot there. Ever. The Taliban still harbors al Qaeda. The President is right to end the talks."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.): "To me, this is just no way to conduct foreign policy. Yes, we should be negotiating with the Afghan government, and we should be negotiating with the Taliban to try to end the bloodshed in this country, which has been going on for decades. ... This isn’t a game show, these are terrorists."

The big picture: Zalmay Khalilzad, Trump's special envoy for Afghanistan, said last week that the U.S. and the Taliban had struck an "in principle" agreement that would see 5,400 troops leave Afghanistan — the first sign of a breakthrough in peace talks between the 2 sides.

Pompeo said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that the U.S. is still interested in a peace deal, but that the Taliban must agree to preconditions such as "certain reductions in violence" and breaking with al-Qaeda.

The Taliban said Sunday that Trump's decision to abruptly end peace talks will cost more American lives, Reuters reports.

Pompeo defends Trump inviting Taliban to Camp David for peace talks

"If you're going to negotiate peace, you often have to deal with some pretty bad actors."

Taliban

Afghanistan

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday that the European Union will not grant the U.K. an extension to its Oct. 31 Brexit deadline if the current situation doesn't change, Bloomberg reports.

France says EU won't grant Brexit extension if U.K. doesn't have a plan

"We are not going to go through this every three months..."

Axios

Sunday's top stories