SpeciousNews| white house

white house

Mulvaney to file his own impeachment lawsuit, lawyers say

White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney plans to file his own lawsuit over testimony in the House impeachment inquiry, withdrawing his bid to join a separate case filed … Click to Continue »

The Atlantic Politics Daily: Trump All By Himself

It’s Thursday, November 7. The president of Turkey will visit the White House next week, one month after the Syria chaos. Michael Bloomberg has reportedly taken steps to enter the Democratic presidential primary.

In today’s newsletter: ¶ People. Trump dining alone; Rudy Giuliani. ¶ Places. Capitol Hill. ¶ Things. Warren’s wealth tax.

« TODAY IN POLITICS »

(Brendan Smialowwski / Getty)

Trump is dealing with impeachment—and the presidency—all by himself.

“He just has no life,” one person close to President Trump recently told our White House reporter Peter Nicholas.

“It’s all politics, all the time,” one former Trump White House official told him. “And that can be warping to anybody.”

Since the impeachment inquiry ramped up, Peter has been reporting out concerns both current Trump associates and former White House aides have had about how the president is handling things in the White House.

His latest reporting paints a picture of president unraveling fast, and a diminished staff around him:

¶ It’s not just “adults in the room” (e.g., Jim Mattis, John Kelly). Many confidants have departed, including two of his closest aides, former communications director Hope Hicks and former press secretary Sarah Sanders.

¶ Those still in the administration are focused on their own survival—or ambitions. Trump has an acting chief of staff (Mick Mulvaney) who is already on the outs, a secretary of state who hasn’t ruled out a Senate run in Kansas, a Vice President who’s popular with the GOP establishment on the Hill.

Read Peter’s full report here.

—Christian Paz

« ARGUMENTS AND IDEAS »

(ANDREW HARNIK / AP)

Why hasn’t Trump thrown Rudy Giuliani under the bus?

In keeping with the theme of people who aren’t doing Trump any favor: David Graham asks why Trump doesn’t consciously uncouple with America’s Mayor.

To cut him off, he’d have to acknowledge that Giuliani was doing something improper, and the president has refused to admit that anything in the Ukraine scandal was inappropriate.

Read David’s argument here.

« WHAT OUR POLITICS TEAM IS READING »

With what looks like a political upset in the Kentucky governor’s race this week, I was fascinated by this piece on the conservative activist group that poured money into the state focusing on areas of conflict over transgender rights, such as bathroom use and school sports. It’s not clear what conclusions they’ll draw from Republican Governor Matt Bevin’s apparent loss, but this may be a sign of what's to come in races ahead.
—Emma Green, a staff writer who covers religion and politics

I was struck by this piece by my colleague Uri Friedman. The story detailed the confusion surrounding the Trump administration’s policy in Ukraine. It also vividly illustrated the danger of conducting diplomacy through presidential loyalists focused on Trump's political interests.
—Peter Nicholas

« EVENING READ »

(ProPublica Illinois)

This is life in one of the whitest towns in Illinois.

Logan Jaffe, a reporter with ProPublica Illinois, revisits a “sundown town” with a long history of discrimination against black people.

I took a seat at the bar. A man two stools over from me struck up a conversation. I told him I was a journalist from Chicago and asked him to tell me about this town. “You know how this town is called Anna?” he started. “That’s for ‘Ain’t No Niggers Allowed.’” He laughed, shook his head, and took a sip of his beer.

Read the full story.

« Before You Go »

(Michael Cohen / Getty)

What does Bill Gates get right and wrong about Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax? Ian Bogost evaluates Gates’ $100 billion tax complaint:

This is a duplicitous way to talk about Warren’s proposal, because taxing $100 billion out of $106.8 billion would amount to a 94 percent tax; Warren has proposed an annual 3 percent wealth tax on assets over $1 billion.

Read the full analysis.

« ABOUT US »

Today’s edition of our daily newsletter of political ideas and arguments was written by Christian Paz and edited by Shan Wang.

Comments, questions, or even reading recommendations for us? Reply directly to this newsletter, or email politicsdaily@theatlantic.com. See you tomorrow.

Your support makes our journalism possible. Subscribe here.

Democrats release new batch of testimony from Trump impeachment inquiry 20%

A senior Pentagon official detailed confusion and concern in the U.S. national security apparatus after the White House blocked aid to Ukraine without explanation, according to testimony released on Monday by the congressional impeachment panel into U.S. President Donald Trump.

White House's Mulvaney to sue over House impeachment subpoenas

White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on Monday withdrew his request to join a lawsuit seeking a court ruling on whether witnesses must testify in the U.S. House of Representatives impeachment probe into President Donald Trump, saying he would bring his own case, according to a court document.

Trump says will probably release second Ukraine transcript on Tuesday

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the White House would probably release a transcript of a second call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday.

Trump promotes #MAGACHALLENGE rap contest to make liberals cry

President invites winners of contest to spit their bars at the White House

Roger Stone viewed as Trumps access point to WikiLeaks, Steve Bannon says

The former White House official says the release of leaked emails would be 'hurting Hillary Clinton and helping the Trump campaign'

Trump misses reality TV and is reportedly planning a new show for after the White House

President reportedly considering a new reality series titled 'The Apprentice: White House'

Trump declares himself resident of Florida in move that could help him pay less tax, says report -5%

President has spent almost 100 days at Mar-a-Lago estate since entering White House

How key Republicans inside Facebook are shifting its politics to the right -3%

Company has been accused of pro-Republican bias, in both policy and personnel, amid fears it could be broken up if a Democrat wins in 2020

Facebook has been accused of pro-Republican bias, in both policy and personnel, amid fears at the company that it could be broken up if a Democrat wins the White House next year.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg faced fierce criticism this week, first for including Breitbart – once described by former chairman Steve Bannon as a “platform for the ‘alt-right’” – in its list of trusted sources for Facebook News, then for refusing to ban or factcheck political advertising.

Why a small election in Kentucky is bad news for Donald Trump and China 9%

American politics got a jolt last week when voters in the staunchly Republican state of Kentucky apparently opted for a Democratic governor, throwing out Governor Matt Bevin in an off-year election seen by many as a harbinger of next year’s battle for the White House. A day before the election, President Donald Trump showed up in Kentucky to stump for Bevin, warning voters there about the onslaught of corruption and general hellfire that would ensue if the statehouse went blue. While the…

Donald Trump denies agreeing to roll back trade war tariffs on China, despite earlier reports 6%

US President Donald Trump denied a claim by Beijing that he was willing to roll back tariffs on Chinese goods as part of an interim trade deal.Asked by reporters at the White House on Friday if he would cancel punitive tariffs, Trump said: “They'd like to have a rollback. I haven't agreed to anything.”“China would like to get somewhat of a rollback, not a complete rollback, because they know I won't do it,” he said. “Frankly, they want to make a deal a lot more than I do.”Ministry spokesman Gao…

Kim Jong-un doesnt deserve Donald Trumps compliments, North Korean defector Grace Jo says after meeting US president 14%

A North Korean defector said on Thursday after meeting Donald Trump at the White House that Kim Jong-un is not worthy of the US president’s extravagant praise.Kim “doesn’t deserve all those compliments”, Grace Jo told reporters.Trump has frequently, lavishly praised Kim, talking of their close friendship and even “love” as he tries to persuade the North Korean leader to end his growing nuclear weapons programme.Jo, who escaped the North after losing most of her family to repression and…

Trade negotiator who got China into WTO is rooting for Trumps re-election because Twitterer in Chief is easy to read 9%

Donald Trump, whose trade war with China has upended global supply chains and imperilled the world’s economic growth, would be most welcomed with another four years in the White House because he is easier to read than other American politicians, said the negotiator who led China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The US president's daily Twitter posts broadcast his every impulse, delight and peeve to 67 million followers around the world, making him “easy to read” and “the best…

Donald Trump, the Fear-Based President, Asks Children to Build the Wall

Masha Gessen writes about Donald Trump’s fear-based Presidency and this year’s White House Halloween party, where the children of Administration staff members were greeted with a “Build the Wall” mural.

White House infighting flares amid impeachment inquiry

A dispute erupts between Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone over how to counter House Democrats’ impeachment push.

Juul halts sales of mint-flavored e-cigarettes, its most popular product 25%

Juul announced it will selling mint, its most popular e-cigarette flavor. The move comes ahead of an expected White House ban on flavored e-cigarettes except for menthol and tobacco.

Judge shuts out public from Mick Mulvaney hearing on House impeachment subpoena

The public couldn't listen to a public court hearing Monday night over acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney's House impeachment subpoena, a federal judge in Washington said.

Washington Post: Nikki Haley says top Trump aides tried to recruit her to undermine President

Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley divulged in her forthcoming memoir that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former White House chief of staff John Kelly attempted to recruit her to undermine President Donald Trump in an effort to "save the country," according to The Washington Post.