The Commentariat -- August 26, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "A global summit between President Trump and other leaders ended [in Biarritz, France,] without significant progress on any of the world's most pressing issues, laying bare the widening gulf between the United States and other nations as they struggle to address issues like trade and climate change. French President Emmanuel Macron said leaders at the Group of Seven summit agreed to endorse just a one-page document of issues and then to continue working on a variety of other challenges that have proved elusive, including trade imbalances, climate change and Iran, among other things.... Macron said that the three days of talks here had a 'lot of tension and we had a lot of conflicts,' but he considered it a success that they were even able to produce a one-page document." This is an update of a story linked below. ...

After skipping the climate-change meeting, Trump said at his press conference he was an environmentalist. Oddly, the room did not break out in derisive laughter. I guess the world's press is accustomed to Trump's whoppers. ...

... From the Guardian's liveblog: "Throughout his press conference, Trump avoided offering details on a number of pressing issues, including the climate crisis, Iran and his trade war with China. On combating climate change, Trump dubiously argued that confronting the crisis would threaten the country's economy. 'I feel the US has tremendous wealth ... I'm not going to lose that wealth on dreams, on windmills - which, frankly, aren't working too well,' Trump said. He added, 'I think I know more about the environment than most.'... When asked about inviting Vladimir Putin to the G7 summit, Trump repeated the falsehood that the Russian president was previously excluded from the gathering because he 'outsmarted' Barack Obama. PBS Newshour's Yamiche Alcindor responded by correcting Trump that Putin was actually excluded after annexing Crimea, but the president stood by his original position. He also mentioned that he was sure Alcindor, who is black, did 'like' Obama.... One of the few matters where he did elaborate was on his Florida resort, Trump National Doral Miami, hosting the 2020 G7 summit. He went on at length about how the resort's 'magnificent buildings' and proximity to the airport made it the perfect site, while dismissing out of hand any implication that he could personally profit from holding the summit there." ...

... Zeke Miller & Darlene Superville of the AP: "Brushing off concerns about global economic instability..., Donald Trump defended the way he is trying to squeeze a trade deal out of China on Monday, saying it's a style that worked for him as a businessman. Trump was challenged on a negotiating style in which he praises Chinese President Xi Jinping one day and castigates him the next. Allies are complaining that that's contributing to instability problems for them and other nations, a reporter noted at a news conference closing out Trump's participation in the Group of Seven summit. Sorry, it's the way I negotiate,' he said. The president said layers of U.S. tariffs have hurt China so badly that it will have no choice but to make a trade deal with the United States. His trade war has been blamed for a global economic slowdown and has sown fears of an economic recession in the U.S.... 'What's bad for the world economy is uncertainty,' Macron said, speaking in English. 'The quicker an agreement is arrived at, the quicker that uncertainty will dissipate.'" This is an update of a story linked below. Mrs. McC: Flailing around, lying, backtracking, threats, recriminations, etc., are such excellent negotiation tactics.

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday dismissed as 'ridiculous' a report that he proposed detonating nuclear bombs inside hurricanes to weaken the storms before they make landfall along U.S. shorelines. 'The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous,' Trump tweeted, referring to himself in the third person. 'I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS!'" Reporters Jonathan Swan & Margaret Talev said they stood by every word their story. Mrs. McC: According to the Axios report, Trump brought up the matter during at least two formal meetings. I doubt Evereybody But Trump is lying.

Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "... Rudy Giuliani promoted discredited conspiracy theories about murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich on Twitter early Monday morning, further fueling the baseless speculation that has anguished Rich's grieving family. Giuliani quote-tweeted a tweet from conspiracy theorist Matt Couch, whose fevered claims about Rich's 2016 murder provoked a defamation lawsuit from Rich's brother.... In text messages with The Daily Beast, Giuliani insisted his tweet wasn't meant to promote any conspiracy theories but merely to ask questions about Rich's murder, which has remained unsolved."

Politico: "Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) will resign from Congress at the end of September, the most recent in a string of Republicans who have decided against running for re-election. Duffy, who was elected in 2010 during a GOP wave, said he and his wife are expecting a child in late October who will 'will need even more love, time, and attention due to complications, including a heart condition.'"

James Arkin of Politico: "Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy confirmed Monday he's considering running for Senate next year, setting up a potential blockbuster Democratic primary against Sen. Ed Markey." Mrs. McC: This is stupid; Kennedy should run for President Elizabeth Warren's unexpired term. (Massachusetts' Republican governor will certainly seat a Republican, & -- tho the Massachusetts legislature keeps changing the terms of filling unexpired Senate terms to suit its political interests -- I think there would be a Senate race.

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"Don't Get You-Know-Who Mad." Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Ever so gingerly, as if determined not to rouse [Donald Trump]'s well-known temper, the other Group of 7 leaders sought to nudge him toward their views on the pressing issues of the day, or at least register their differences -- while making sure to wrap them in a French crepe of flattery, as they know he prefers. It was far from clear the messages were received, or in any case at least welcome.... For his part, Mr. Trump largely stuck to diplomatic niceties, refraining from hate-tweeting his colleagues and leaving aside his caustic complaints.... While the president relishes confrontation, he tends to avoid conflict in person, saving his vitriol for long-distance social media blasts."

Angelique Chrisafis of the Guardian: "... Emmanuel Macron has condemned what he called 'extraordinarily rude' comments made about his wife, Brigitte, by the far-right Brazilian leader, Jair Bolsonaro, escalating their diplomatic clash.... Over the weekend Bolsonaro personally expressed approval online for a Facebook post implying that Brigitte Macron was not as good-looking as his own wife, Michelle Bolsonaro."

Mrs. McCrabbie: At 9:15 am ET, Trump & Macron's news conference is coming up "shortly." That's when I turn off the teevee.

Angelique Chrisafis: “Donald Trump did not attend Monday's crucial discussion on climate and biodiversity at the G7 meeting of international leaders in Biarritz, missing talks on how to deal with the Amazon rainforest fires as well as new ways to cut carbon emissions.... Trump was later asked by reporters covering a meeting with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, whether he had attended the climate session. He replied: 'We're having it in a little while.' He did not appear to hear when a reporter told him it had just taken place." Mrs. McC: Is Trump pretending not to know what's going on, or does he not know?

Still Time for a Biarritz Trumpertantrum. AP: "... Donald Trump and [G7] summit host French President Emmanuel Macron will finish off the three-day summit with a joint news conference Monday. But first the leaders of the Group of Seven rich democracies -- the U.S., France, Britain, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy -- are holding a string of meetings on climate change, how digitalization is transforming the world and other issues." ...

... Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump began his final day at the Group of Seven summit complaining about the media but offering scant evidence that he and other world leaders gathered in France had made any progress on tackling major global challenges ranging from a slowing economy to nuclear proliferation.... 'In France we are all laughing at how knowingly inaccurate the U.S. reporting of events and conversations at the G-7 is,' Trump tweeted early Monday. 'These Leaders, and many others, are getting a major case study of Fake News at it's finest! They've got it all wrong, from Iran, to China Tariffs, to Boris!'... Negotiators from each country talked trade and other issues late into the night, but the U.S. delegation blocked any consensus, a senior European official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door discussions.... [Trump] signaled on Monday that trade deals were in motion -- although both China and Japan quickly undercut elements of his claims. 'China called,' Trump said. 'They want to make a deal.' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was 'not aware' of any weekend phone call.... [Trump] also sought to boost what he called a trade deal 'in principle' with Japan.... Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Takeshi Osuga said Monday that talks were still at a more preliminary stage." ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times is liveblogging the G7 meeting. Baker relies on Trump's assertion that China called to restart trade negotiations. ...

     ... Emoluments Update: "President Trump suggested that next year's G7 meeting could held at one of his own properties, the Trump National Doral, near Miami." Mrs. McC: Yes, because everyone wants to go to Miami in August. On the other hand, world leaders probably want to enjoy Trump-style nouveau luxe. ...

     ... (The NYT liveblog has now been updated to include a mini-report on Trump's Doral proposal: "The idea of his using one of his resorts to host an international summit meeting would raise many questions, including whether and how much the government would pay for the premises, and how much Mr. Trump would profit from it.") ...

     ... Update 2: "The Group of 7 agreed on a $20 million aid package to help Brazil and its neighbors fight the fires raging in the Amazon rain forest, President Emmanuel Macron of France said on Monday." Mrs. McC: Of course Trump didn't show up for the meeting. According to CNN, the White House says his absence was caused by his having other meetings with Angela Merkel & Narenda Modi, but they both managed to attend the climate-change meeting.

     ... Update 3: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on Monday declined President Trump's offer to mediate the escalating dispute with Pakistan over the territory of Kashmir, saying that he did not want to involve any other country in the matter." Mrs. McC: Another missed chance for that elusive Nobel Peace Prize!

... Zeke Miller & Darlene Superville of the AP: "... Donald Trump, under pressure to scale back a U.S.-China trade war partly blamed for a global economic slowdown, claimed Monday that the two sides will begin serious negotiations soon. Trump said his trade negotiators had received two 'very good calls' from China Sunday.... World leaders had encouraged Trump all weekend to deescalate the conflict with China, he clashed with French President Emmanuel Macron over new France's digital services tax, and he broke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in not forcefully condemning North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches. But Trump on Monday claimed the reports of disagreements were overblown, starting with the ... visit [by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif]. Uncharacteristically silent Sunday while Zarif was in France, Trump insisted that Macron had asked his 'approval' before asking Zarif to attend, as he looks to lower tensions in the Persian Gulf.... 'I spoke to President Macron yesterday and I knew everything he was doing and I approved whatever he was doing and I thought it was fine,' Trump said of the Zarif talks." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So now we know for sure that the Chinese never called, or they called once, or they called twice. And we also know that Trump gave his approval to Macron for the Zarif visit, as if a U.S. president* can tell a French president who-all can come to France. But, according to media reports, the "White House" was blindsided by Zarif's visit, so either (1) both Trump and White House staff were surprised, or (2) Trump didn't bother to tell staff about Zarif's visit, or (3) all the appropriate U.S. staff were aware of the visit & they told reporters otherwise. I am looking forward to the day when we have a real president who doesn't just automatically lie about every little thing; you know, if the president says (A) & somebody else says (Not-A), you assume (A). ...

     ... Update: CNN has been trying to "get some clarity" or whether or not phone calls took place, & they can't get a straight answer. So one has to guess that's a no. No link.

... Julian Borger of the Guardian: "... Donald Trump has said it is 'too soon' to hold talks with Iranian officials but confirmed he agreed to a French decision to invite Iran's foreign minister for talks in Biarritz during the G7 summit. In another sign that the French-led effort to defuse tensions between US and Iran may be making progress, the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, declared himself open in principle to meeting the US president.... [Iran's foreign mininster Mohammad Javad] Zarif said he had spent four hours in talks in Biarritz, including an hour with Macron, as 'some points needed to be clarified or negotiated more, especially banking and oil issues that were discussed in an intensive talks by experts.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's funny because one of our favorite senators, the budding diplomat Rand Paul, invited Zarif in mid-July to meet with President Trump, "with President Trump's blessing." (Link is to a New Yorker story by Robin Wright.) So if it's "too soon" to meet with Iran's top guys in late August, it's pretty clear the State Department was not prepared for even a ten-minute photo-op on the sidelines of the G7 event. Could it be because Zarif's appearance in Biarritz "blindsided" State & White House officials? ...

... "RussiaGate," Ctd. Julian Borger of the Guardian: "Donald Trump has rowed with his fellow G7 leaders over his demand that Russia be readmitted to the group.... The disagreement led to heated exchanges at a dinner on Saturday night inside the seaside resort's 19th-century lighthouse. According to diplomatic sources, Trump argued strenuously that Vladimir Putin should be invited back, five years after Russia was ejected from the then G8) for its annexation of Crimea. Of the other leaders around the table, only Giuseppe Conte, the outgoing Italian prime minister, offered Trump any support, according to this account." --s

Yesterday's Commentariat links stories about the G7 meeting, more-or-less in most-recent-first order. ...

... A Man Hears What He Wants to Hear ... Peter Nicholas of the Atlantic: "At the Group of Seven meeting in Biarritz, France, there are, in effect, two different summits under way -- one that's happening in ... Donald Trump's mind, and another that is actually happening on the ground.... To hear Trump tell it, predictions that the weekend summit would be contentious were all wrong. Only the 'Fake and Disgusting News' would conclude that his relations with the other leaders meeting in the coastal resort were 'very tense,' he tweeted, when in fact, they were 'getting along very well.' His counterparts, he insists, are coming forward and agreeing with him that it's a good idea to readmit Russia to the group, he said today.... He's hearing broad support for his trade dispute with China and a lunch visit yesterday with Emmanuel Macron was the best he's had yet with his French counterpart, he said. In none of these instances does Trump's version of events hold up." ...

Reporter: Mr. President, any second thoughts on escalating the trade war with China?

President Trump: Yeah, sure. Why not?

Reporter: Second thoughts? Yes?

Trump: Might as well. Might as well.

Reporter: You have second thoughts about escalating the war with China?

Trump: I have second thoughts about everything.

Mrs. McCrabbie: The White House said Trump didn't hear the question. Really? Three times?

... Heather Hurlburt of New York: "The 2017 G-7, in retrospect, probably told us all we needed to know when world leaders took a walk in Sicily and Trump followed along in a golf cart. At the 2018 meeting, Trump lost control in a session and threw Starburst candies at Angela Merkel, then un-endorsed the agreed-upon summit document, and hate-tweeted at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while flying away. So far at this year's G-7..., the sheer volume of Trump's reversals are getting the most global attention."

Jonathan Swan & Margaret Talev of Axios: "President Trump has suggested multiple times to senior Homeland Security and national security officials that they explore using nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from hitting the United States, according to sources who have heard the president's private remarks and been briefed on a National Security Council memorandum that recorded those comments.... During one hurricane briefing at the White House, Trump said, 'I got it.... Why don't we nuke them?' according to one source who was there. 'They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?' the source added, paraphrasing the president's remarks.... The briefer 'was knocked back on his heels,' the source in the room added. '... People were astonished. After the meeting ended, we thought, "What the f---? What do we do with this?"'... The idea keeps resurfacing in the public even though scientists agree it won't work. The myth has been so persistent that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ... published an online fact sheet for the public under the heading Tropical Cyclone Myths Page.' The page states: 'Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems. Needless to say, this is not a good idea.'" ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Trump also ordered NASA to explore mining Earth's moon for blue cheese. U.S. trade rep Peter Navarro immediately suggested slapping a tariff on Roquefort.

Ken Vogel & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "A loose network of conservative operatives allied with the White House is pursuing what they say will be an aggressive operation to discredit news organizations deemed hostile to President Trump by publicizing damaging information about journalists. It is the latest step in a long-running effort by Mr. Trump and his allies to undercut the influence of legitimate news reporting. Four people familiar with the operation described how it works, asserting that it has compiled dossiers of potentially embarrassing social media posts and other public statements by hundreds of people who work at some of the country's most prominent news organizations. The group has already released information about journalists at CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times -- three outlets that have aggressively investigated Mr. Trump.... the material publicized so far, while in some cases stripped of context or presented in misleading ways, has proved authentic, and much of it has been professionally harmful to its targets." ...

     ... Ken Meyer of Mediaite summarizes the Times report. Slate also has a summary. Mrs. McC: I don't care if Maggie Haberman is schtupping Jim Acosta in the press room; if I think the "news" comes from Trump & Co., you won't read about it here.

Zack Coleman of Politico: "More than 100 storage sites for coal-burning power plants' toxic leftovers lie in areas that federal emergency managers have labeled a high risk for flooding, according to Politico's examination of government and industry data.... [C]oal ash -- a multibillion-dollar liability problem for communities across the country -- may become an even greater danger because of heavier rains triggered by climate change.... Meanwhile, the Trump administration is moving to weaken an Obama-era regulation meant to prevent a repeat of past coal ash disasters.... The ash ... contains arsenic, selenium, lead, mercury, boron and other contaminants known to cause cancer, neurological damage or heart ailments." --s

Harmeet Kaur of CNN: "The Cherokee Nation announced Thursday that it intends to appoint a delegate to the US House of Representatives, asserting for the first time a right promised to the tribe in a nearly 200-year-old treaty with the federal government. It was a historic step for the Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation and its nearly 370,000 citizens, coming about a week after Chuck Hoskin Jr. was sworn in as principal chief of the tribe. The Cherokee Nation says it's the largest tribal nation in the US and one of three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. The move raises questions about what that representation in Congress would look like and whether the US will honor an agreement it made almost two centuries ago.... The Cherokee Nation's right to appoint a delegate stems from the [Treaty of New Echota of 1835] that the US government used to forcibly remove the tribe from its ancestral lands", sending them on the Trail of Tears. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Gee, maybe this will cause Trump to lose his fondness for Andrew Jackson.

Presidential Race 2020

Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "Elizabeth Warren drew the largest crowd of her presidential campaign Sunday in Seattle, as an estimated 15,000 people turned out to support what she calls a movement for change. When touting her wealth tax of 2 cents on every dollar of assets above $50 million, Warren drew chants of '2 cents! 2 cents!' The loudest applause came when she called for overturning the Supreme Court's ruling that lifted campaign finance restrictions."

Mrs. McCrabbie: I linked yesterday to a brief profile of Trump's right-wing "challenger" Joe Walsh. Here's another by Aaron Blake of the Washington Post. Walsh should have gone for an acting Cabinet post instead; he's just the kind of disreputable character who would appeal to Trump but who is unlikely to get through a Senate confirmation.

MEANWHILE, in a Local Race to the Bottom ... Owen Daugherty of the Hill: Joe Arpaio, a year after Donald Trump pardoned him for being a cruel, racist xenophobe, announced he will run to get his sheriff's job back.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Richarde Luscombe of the Guardian: "In a controversial move that has outraged environmentalists and also raised questions with authorities responsible for the health and vitality of the [Floridian Santa Fe] river, [Nestlé] is seeking permission to take more than 1.1m gallons a day from the natural springs to sell back to the public as bottled water.... [T]he fragile river ... is already officially deemed to be 'in recovery' ... after years of earlier overpumping.... [C]ompany officials concede in letters to water managers supporting the permit request that its plans would result in four times more water being taken daily than Seven Springs' previously recorded high of 0.26m gallons" --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

U.K./E.U. Brexit Woes. Jennifer Rankin of the Guardian: "The European Union would refuse to negotiate a trade deal with the UK if the government reneged on the Brexit bill, EU sources have said. At the G7 summit in Biarritz, Boris Johnson said it was a 'simple statement of reality' that the UK would withhold much of the £39bn financial settlement agreed by Theresa May, in the event of a no-deal. Brussels sources have warned that future trade talks would be blocked until the UK agreed to a settlement."

The Commentariat -- August 25, 2019

Idiot Abroad

Michael Birnbaum & Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a surprise visit to ... [Biarritz] Sunday, a move that caught President Trump off-guard and added another element of tension to the meeting of world economic leaders. Zarif's arrival in Biarritz appeared to be a covert initiative by French President Emmanuel Macron, a senior European official said, and other leaders were not informed ahead of time. There was no immediate plan for the Iranian foreign minister to meet anyone other than French officials, the officials said.... 'No comment,' Trump told reporters when asked about news that Zarif was coming to town. Zarif came to Biarritz on the invitation of his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi wrote on Twitter. The aim of the visit is to 'continue discussions about recent initiatives between the presidents of Iran and France,' Mousavi said. And he said there would be no meetings or negotiations with the U.S. delegation during the trip." The NBC News story is here.

Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Sunday that he had reached a trade pact 'in principle' with Japanese leader Shinzo Abe, in an apparent effort to gin up support for a tough-talk negotiating style that he says is bearing fruit. Abe, however, said more work had to be done, and it was unclear what format the trade pact might ultimately take. Large trade agreements typically require congressional approval. Trump's description of the trade deal made it sound as if it would be narrower in scale, though he didn't provide many details. Trump, talking up the deal's potential effect, said it could be signed as soon as September. 'We've been working on a deal with Japan for a long time,' he said. 'And we've agreed in principle ... billions and billions of dollars.'" Right. Brett Samuels has the Hill's story.

Morgan Chalfont of the Hill: "President Trump on Sunday promised a 'very big trade deal' with a post-Brexit United Kingdom after meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the Group of 7 (G-7) summit." Mrs. McC: Of course the predicate of any sentence that begins "President Trump promised" is more meaningless than "covfefe."

Darlene Superville & Zeke Miller of the AP: “... Donald Trump signaled regret Sunday for an escalating trade war with China, as he faces a tense reception from world leaders meeting amid mounting anxiety of a global economic slowdown at the Group of Seven summit in France. Trump is trying to use the conference to rally global leaders to do more to stimulate their economies, as fears rise of a potential slowdown in the U.S. ahead of his reelection. But Trump's counterparts, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are trying to convince him to back off his trade wars with China and other countries, which they see as contributing to the economic weakening.... Sunday, during a breakfast meeting with [the U.K.'s new PM Boris] Johnson, Trump [answered,] 'Yeah. For sure,' [to] reporters [who] asked if he has second thoughts about escalating the trade dispute, adding he has 'second thoughts about everything.' But he insisted that 'we're getting along well right now with China.' Johnson ... chided Trump on his hardnosed China policy. 'Just to register a faint sheep-like note of our view on the trade war,' he [said].... 'We're in favor of trade peace.'" ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: All the news organizations are calling Trump's remark a "signal of regret." Really? "Yeah" is a pretty weak "signal," & Trump no doubt already has forgotten it. ...

     ... ** Update: From the NYT liveblog, linked below: "The White House says President Trump's admission to 'second thoughts' about threatening action against China was misinterpreted, and that he only regretted not raising tariffs higher." Justin Wise of the Hill has a more extensive report on the walkback. (The Times report is the single sentence cited, but probably will be updated.) I would give myself an "atta-girl" or a Toljaso award except it doesn't take the Oracle of Delphi to predict Trump or his minions would paper over the only "regret" he ever expressed in his life.

... According to Damian Paletta & others in a Washington Post report, Trump's full answer was, "Yeah, sure why not. Might as well. Might as well. I have second thoughts about everything." Then, "But Trump showed no willingness to back down, saying 'it has to happen.' He accused China of unfair trade practices that he said had to be addressed through tough U.S. measures, no matter the cost. 'I think they want to make a deal much more than I do,' Trump said before [the] breakfast with ... Boris Johnson.... At their first joint meeting -- a dinner of regional Basque specialties -- leaders had 'constructive discussions' about Amazonian deforestation and Iran, according to a senior European official. But the conversation turned 'rough and tumble' when it turned to Trump's desire to bring Russia back into the group next year.... The other G-7 leaders have been deeply opposed to Trump's effort to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin back to their table, saying it would reward bad behavior and give a green light to the annexation and ongoing war in eastern Ukraine. Over dinner, Trump spent some time bashing former president Barack Obama about the decision to kick out Russia, repeating his public statements that Putin had only been kicked out because he outsmarted Obama...." ...

     ... Update. As of 7:34 am ET, here are the lowlights of the WashPo report: "The White House said President Trump's earlier suggestion that he regretted escalating the trade war with China was 'misintrepeted' and that what he regrets is not raising tariffs higher. Trump said North Korea has not violated any rules with recent missile tests, during meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Abe, who said the tests clearly violate U.N. Security Council resolutions. Trump said it is 'certainly possible' he will invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to next year's G-7 meeting in the United States, a move that would almost certainly be opposed by allies." The Post calls the White House's "reinterpretation" of Trump's "regrets" "a head spinning about-face." The whole report is worth reading, as without saying so, it really highlights what an embarrassment Trump is.

... The New York Times is liveblogging developments at the G7. "In comments to reporters ahead of a breakfast with Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, the president said that he had 'no plans right now' to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to force businesses to leave China as punishment for the country's trade practices. 'Well, I have the right to. If I want, I could declare a national emergency,' Mr. Trump said at the beginning of a day of consultations with world leaders at the Group of 7 summit.... Mr. Trump insist[ed] that none of his counterparts had questioned his China trade war at an opening dinner Saturday night.... 'We think that on the whole, the U.K. has profited massively in the last 200 years from free trade and that's what we want to see,' [Johnson] said [at the breakfast], adding, 'we don't like tariffs on the whole.' Mr. Trump offered a quick retort to the prime minister, asking how Britain was doing 'the last three years,' a reference to its recent economic stagnation.... In a series of early-morning tweets from his hotel room on Sunday, Mr. Trump blamed the 'the Fake and Disgusting News' for predicting that this year's gathering would end in disaster. In fact, he insisted, 'we are having very good meetings, the Leaders are getting along very well.'" Mrs. McC: IOW, the real leaders are walking on eggshells & Trump hasn't blown his lid ... yet.

Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "While Trump struck a positive tone upon his arrival in Biarritz -- tweeting 'Big weekend with other world leaders!' -- the tension surrounding the meeting was held barely below the surface as anxious diplomats kept close watch on the president's Twitter account. Some Trump administration officials hinted that the president was prepared to disrupt the meeting's carefully planned script with his trademark bombast.... On Saturday, Trump used his brief public remarks to praise the 'perfect' weather and predict that Macron and other world leaders 'will accomplish a lot.' But privately, some of his advisers were grumbling over the direction the summit was taking before it even officially began.... Shortly after [Trump & G7 host Emmanuel Macron had] lunch, some senior [Trump] administration officials said they were frustrated with how the French were handling the summit.... Macron has already said he will not pursue a joint communique this year, describing the tradition as 'pointless' given Trump's combative approach.... Trump's continued embrace of his 'America First' agenda -- even in the face of growing signs of global economic turmoil -- indicates that the various world powers will not be able to rely on the United States for steady leadership amid crisis, said Jon B. Alterman, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies." ...

... Lori Hinnant, et al., of the AP: "The posturing by leaders of the G-7 rich democracies began well before they stood together for a summit photo.... Just before boarding Air Force One for France, Trump tweeted yet another threat of new tariffs on French wine in retaliation for France's digital services tax. Macron greeted him warmly..., but had already called for an end to the trade disputes that he said threatened global growth.... European Council President Donald Tusk and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson traded barbs over who would go down in history as 'Mr. No Deal' and take the blame for a Brexit departure from the European Union that threatens to go off the rails. And nearly everyone kept a trade threat close at hand." ...

... Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Lunching on a patio overlooking the Bay of Biscay at the Hôtel du Palais on Saturday, President Trump gushed over Emmanuel Macron, the French president and the host of the weekend's annual Group of 7 meeting, held this year in the quaint beach town of Biarritz in the south of France.But ... members of Mr. Trump's administration were publicly and privately dumping on the French president and his team. They complained that the focus of the summit was more on 'niche issues' than the global economic challenges facing their nations. Senior administration officials said that the agenda would center too much on issues designed to play well with Mr. Macron's domestic audience -- like climate change, income and gender equality, and African development -- and was engineered to highlight disagreements with Mr. Trump's administration. They accused Mr. Macron's aides of ignoring pleas by Trump administration officials to focus the summit, which runs through Monday, on national security and a looming economic slowdown. And they said Mr. Macron was purposely trying to fracture the Group of 7 by veering away from its longstanding mission of ensuring that the strains on other economies do not spread globally." ...

     (... Mrs. McCrabbie: In a country full of "quaint" towns, Biarritz is not one of them, IMO. Nearby resort town Saint-Jean-de-Luz is "more quaint," at least in the old part.)

... Tusk v. Trump. Michael Birnbaum & Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "European Council President Donald Tusk on Saturday said escalating trade tensions between President Trump and other world leaders risk throwing the world into recession, bemoaning 'senseless disputes' that had ripped countries apart. 'This may be the last moment to restore our political community,' he told reporters at the beginning of the Group of Seven summit [in Biarritz, France].... Trade wars will lead to recession while trade deals will boost the economy,' he said. In response to a question, Tusk questioned Trump's motivation in trade wars launched by the United States.... In a sign that leaders are bracing for things to only get worse, Tusk said the E.U. was ready to retaliate against Trump if the U.S. leader followed through on some of his trade-related threats directed at France. Trump has said he will impose tariffs on French wine because France recently imposed taxes that impact U.S. technology companies." The Hill story citing the Post is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Norimitsu Onishi of the New York Times: "As the Amazon burned and the world faced an ecological disaster, President Emmanuel Macron of France bluntly criticized Brazil's leader this week and threatened to kill a major trade deal between Europe and Brazil. President Trump, on the other hand, posted a tweet only Friday evening, saying that the United States was ready to help contain the fires, but adding that 'future trade prospects' between the United States and Brazil 'are very exciting.' The contrast highlighted the gap in leadership on issues affecting the global climate. As the Trump administration denies established climate science and has abandoned an international accord intended to fight global warming, European leaders have energetically stepped in to take up the mantle of leadership.... Mr. Macron's criticism of Brazil was followed up by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who said forcefully that the Amazon fires would be a central issue during the summit.... Earlier this month, Germany and Norway suspended payments to Brazil's Amazon fund -- a conservation program that had been central to curbing deforestation -- after the Bolsonaro government weakened its leadership.... Last month, Ireland became the first member of the European Union to express opposition to the trade deal between the European Union and Brazil as well as three other South American nations...." More on the Amazon debacle linked under Way Beyond the Beltway.

Neil Irwin of the New York Times: "The series of economic and financial developments on Friday was a strange, bewildering, exhausting microcosm of why the global economy is at risk of a meltdown. It showed the odd interplay at work between the Chinese government's actions in the escalating trade war with the United States, the sober-minded global central bankers who have limited power to deploy and an American president whose public pronouncements often appear driven by grievance more than strategy.... In one dizzying day, [Donald Trump] had seemed to be searching for whom or what to blame for economic troubles, first using Twitter to call his own Federal Reserve chief an enemy of the United States and then to urge American companies to stop doing business with China. And that was just while the markets were open. Later Friday, he said he would apply tariffs to all Chinese imports and increase those already in place.... President Trump's shoot-first approach adds to the risks at a delicate moment, with major economies in Asia and Europe already teetering and policymakers' capacity to contain the damage in question." (Also linked yesterday.)

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump asserted on Saturday that he has the authority to make good on his threat to force all American businesses to leave China, citing a national security law that has been used mainly to target terrorists, drug traffickers and pariah states like Iran, Syria and North Korea.... Mr. Trump posted a message on Twitter citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 -- a law meant to enable a president to isolate criminal regimes but not intended to be used to cut off economic ties with a major trading partner because of a disagreement over tariffs.... Presidents have used it to target international terrorists, drug kingpins, human rights abusers, cyber attackers, illegal arms proliferators, and multinational criminal organizations.... Seeking to use it in a trade dispute with a country like China would be a drastic departure from its history.... In raising the possibility of forcing American businesses to pull out of China on Friday, Mr. Trump framed it not as a request but as an order he had already issued.... In fact, aides said, no order has been drawn up nor was it clear that he would attempt to do so." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ... The story has been updated, with Keith Bradsher added to the byline. "... the threat itself could still have a long-lasting impact on relations with China and perhaps embolden hard-liners in Beijing pressing President Xi Jinping to take a more confrontational approach to the United States. Mr. Trump's claim that he can order American companies to pull out of China also represented the latest audacious assertion of power by a president who has repeatedly crossed lines his predecessors did not.... American business leaders warned that forcing companies to leave China would hurt the competitiveness of American industry and cause heavy financial losses."

** The Real Reason Trump Is Slamming Powell (or Powel). Jonathan O'Connell, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump stands to save millions of dollars annually in interest on outstanding loans on his hotels and resorts if the Federal Reserve lowers rates as he has been demanding, according to public filings and financial experts. In the five years before he became president, Trump borrowed more than $360 million via four loans from Deutsche Bank for his hotels in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, as well his 643-room Doral golf resort in South Florida. The payments on all four properties vary with interest rate changes, according to Trump's official financial disclosures. That means he has already benefited from falling interest rates that were spurred in part by a cut the Federal Reserve announced in July, the first in more than a decade -- and his payments could drop by millions of dollars more annually if the central bank grants Trump's wish and further lowers short-term rates, experts said." Daily Kos has a summary of the WashPo report here. See also Akhilleus's comment at the end of yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday.)

"Trump Revived the Jewish Left." Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Donald Trump might have thought he was going to lure Jewish voters to the Republican Party with his lock-step alliance with the Israeli right. Instead, by attempting to use American Jews as mascots for an administration that fills most of them with horror, he has spurred a renaissance on the Jewish left.... For Jews on the left, fear has been magnified by insult as Trump, the man who helped unleash a new wave of anti-Semitism, posed as the Jews' savior because of his devotion to the Israeli right.... Never Again Action was born in reaction to the perceived failures of mainstream Jewish organizations to stand up to Trump.... The Jewish left rejects the idea that anti-Zionism is equivalent to anti-Semitism, but even more than that, it rejects the idea that Israel is the guarantor of Jewish safety or the lodestar of Jewish identity.... For those primarily concerned about Jewish life in the diaspora, Israel, which has courted anti-Semitic nationalist leaders in Europe, isn't really an ally, much less an ideal. And Trump, who always speaks of American Jews as if they belong there, is a grotesque enemy."

"The Great Trump Crackup." Conservative Rick Wilson in the New York Daily News: "Donald Trump's affect, speech patterns and overall delivery this week have been alternately horrifying and hilarious. A combination of waking hallucinations, verbal tics, lies surpassing even his usual fabulist standard, aphasias and lunatic blurtings, each public utterance was a moment where the eye of his aides either popped or rolled, depending on their level of cynicism.... With no adult supervision in the White House left..., this is a man on the edge, and there is absolutely nothing and no one to stop him.... His sweaty, heavy-breathing press sprays on the White House lawn left reporters in a state of stunned silence, the spittle-flecked rantings of a man determined to machine-gun out a hundred ideas in the time a rational person would discuss two." Mrs. McC: The Daily News has a monthly limit, but you can open the page in a private window.

Daniel Dale & Konstantin Toropin of CNN: "When ... Donald Trump was asked Wednesday what victims of mass shootings are telling him about gun laws, he did not answer directly. Instead, he boasted of 'the love for me' among the people he visited in hospitals in El Paso and Dayton after the August massacres in those cities. 'Not only did they meet with me, they were pouring out of the room. The doctors were coming out of the operating rooms. There were hundreds and hundreds of people all over the floor, he said. Facts First: Doctors did not leave any active operating rooms, spokespeople for both the El Paso and Dayton hospitals said. The Dayton spokesperson said doctors did not even leave any patient rooms." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump is so nuts he thinks doctors would let patients die on the operating tables just to get a chance to see the "Chosen One." OR, he's so nuts he knows the doctors did no such thing, so he has to make up the story to puff himself up. Pathetic, either way.

Presidential Race 2020

Donald Trump has no strategy or plan. His reckless actions drove his own companies into bankruptcy -- now they threaten the global economy and increase the risk of a recession that will hit working families hardest. -- Elizabeth Warren, in a tweet Friday ...

... Jim Tankersley & Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "On the campaign trail this past week, Democratic candidates blasted Mr. Trump for his economic stewardship, criticizing his gyrating trade policy and accusing him of hurting American workers and farmers and stoking a possible recession. In doing so, they signaled a readiness to seize an issue that has been a strength for Mr. Trump -- the nation's economy -- and harness it as an advantage for themselves."

Verhampshire. John Bowden of the Hill: "Former Vice President Joe Biden mistakenly praised the state of Vermont Saturday when asked about his impression of Keene, New Hampshire by reporters during a press gaggle. Video of the exchange shows Biden remarking about Vermont's 'beauty' after an unseen reporter asks him for his 'impression' of the town, which is located in southwestern New Hampshire, close to the state's border with Vermont."

Regina Zilbermints of the Hill: "Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) on Sunday announced he would mount a primary challenge to President Trump. The conservative radio host unveiled his campaign on ABC's 'This Week.' 'We've got a guy in the White House who is unfit, completely unfit to be president and it stuns me that nobody stepped up, nobody in the Republican Party stepped up, because I'll tell you what[,] George, everybody believes in the Republican party, everybody believes he's unfit,' Walsh told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "He lies every time he opens his mouth." Mrs. McC: Fortunately for Trump, Walsh is as unfit as Trump is.

Emily Atkin of the New Republic interviewed Christopher Leonard to reflect on David Koch's climate legacy. Leonard: "Koch Industries -- that is, David and Charles Koch and their political network -- has played an almost unparalleled role in helping to cast doubt on the basic science behind climate change; create doubt in the public mind that climate change is real; and particularly, most importantly, to cast doubt on the idea that government regulation can or should do anything to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.... Because of Koch's funding, the climate denial movement had an organizational backbone out of the box.... And that helped ... mainstream the ideas. And critically, it helped translate climate denial into a political reality.... The Koch network played a vital and unrivaled role in burning down the moderate wing of the Republican Party that acknowledged the reality of climate change.... The machine will continue to go forward as it has, even without David Koch at the forefront."

David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times: "Prince Andrew [of Britain], facing intensifying scrutiny of his ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, broke a long silence on Saturday to say that he never saw or suspected any behavior involving the sexual trafficking and exploitation of underage girls during their long friendship. The prince's statement, which was issued in his own name instead of by Buckingham Palace, was by far the most comprehensive account he has offered of their friendship. Yet Prince Andrew offered no new explanation for continuing a relationship with Mr. Epstein after the financier emerged from a Florida jail in 2010 following a sex crime conviction." The Guardian's story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Nick Corasaniti, et al., of the New York Times: "In the year after receiving test results showing alarming levels of lead in this city's drinking water, Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark ... mailed a brochure to all city residents assuring them that 'the quality of water meets all federal and state standards.' He declared the water safe and then condemned, in capital letters on the city's website, 'outrageously false statements' to the contrary. And he elevated an official to run the city's water department who had served four years in prison for conspiring to sell five kilograms of cocaine. The moves were the latest in a long line of questionable actions that have created one of the biggest environmental crises to hit a major American city in recent years. This month, the city told tens of thousands of Newark residents to drink bottled water, but only after receiving a stern warning from federal officials about lead leaching into tap water from aging pipes.... An investigation by The New York Times ... reveals blunders at all levels of government in safeguarding Newark's water infrastructure.... The crisis could also cast a shadow over the presidential campaign of Senator Cory Booker, who served as Newark's mayor from 2006 to 2013."

Way Beyond

Brazil. Marcelo Silva de Sousa of the AP: "Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops on Saturday were deploying in the Amazon to fight fires that have swept the region and prompted anti-government protests as well as an international outcry. President Jair Bolsonaro also tried to temper global concern, saying that previously deforested areas had burned and that intact rainforest was spared. Even so, the fires were likely to be urgently discussed at a summit of the Group of Seven leaders in France this weekend. Some 44,000 troops will be available for 'unprecedented' operations to put out the fires, and forces are heading to six Brazilian states that asked for federal help, Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo said." ...

... Jair Diddled While the Amazon Burned. Dom Phillips of the Guardian: "While the Amazon burned and Brazilians demonstrated their outrage, Brazil's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro went to a comedy club. As the president's pre-recorded speech to the nation explaining how he planned to use the army to fight the fires -- while simultaneously insisting the rate of burning forest was nothing out of the ordinary -- was broadcast on television on Friday night, he was at a standup show in Brasília by right-wing Christian comic Jonathan Nemer." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Commentariat -- August 24, 2019

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Tusk v. Trump. Michael Birnbaum & Damian Paletta of the Washington Post: "European Council President Donald Tusk on Saturday said escalating trade tensions between President Trump and other world leaders risk throwing the world into recession, bemoaning 'senseless disputes' that had ripped countries apart. 'This may be the last moment to restore our political community,' he told reporters at the beginning of the Group of Seven summit [in Biarritz, France].... Trade wars will lead to recession while trade deals will boost the economy,' he said. In response to a question, Tusk questioned Trump's motivation in trade wars launched by the United States.... In a sign that leaders are bracing for things to only get worse, Tusk said the E.U. was ready to retaliate against Trump if the U.S. leader followed through on some of his trade-related threats directed at France. Trump has said he will impose tariffs on French wine because France recently imposed taxes that impact U.S. technology companies." The Hill story citing the Post is here.

** The Real Reason Trump Is Slamming Powell (or Powel). Jonathan O'Connell, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump stands to save millions of dollars annually in interest on outstanding loans on his hotels and resorts if the Federal Reserve lowers rates as he has been demanding, according to public filings and financial experts. In the five years before he became president, Trump borrowed more than $360 million via four loans from Deutsche Bank for his hotels in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, as well his 643-room Doral golf resort in South Florida. The payments on all four properties vary with interest rate changes, according to Trump's official financial disclosures. That means he has already benefited from falling interest rates that were spurred in part by a cut the Federal Reserve announced in July, the first in more than a decade -- and his payments could drop by millions of dollars more annually if the central bank grants Trump's wish and further lowers short-term rates, experts said." Daily Kos has a summary of the WashPo report here. See also Akhilleus's comment in the thread below.

Jair Diddled While the Amazon Burned. Dom Phillips of the Guardian: "While the Amazon burned and Brazilians demonstrated their outrage, Brazil's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro went to a comedy club. As the president's pre-recorded speech to the nation explaining how he planned to use the army to fight the fires -- while simultaneously insisting the rate of burning forest was nothing out of the ordinary -- was broadcast on television on Friday night, he was at a standup show in Brasília by right-wing Christian comic Jonathan Nemer."

Neil Irwin of the New York Times: "The series of economic and financial developments on Friday was a strange, bewildering, exhausting microcosm of why the global economy is at risk of a meltdown. It showed the odd interplay at work between the Chinese government's actions in the escalating trade war with the United States, the sober-minded global central bankers who have limited power to deploy and an American president whose public pronouncements often appear driven by grievance more than strategy.... In one dizzying day, [Donald Trump] had seemed to be searching for whom or what to blame for economic troubles, first using Twitter to call his own Federal Reserve chief an enemy of the United States and then to urge American companies to stop doing business with China. And that was just while the markets were open. Later Friday, he said he would apply tariffs to all Chinese imports and increase those already in place.... President Trump's shoot-first approach adds to the risks at a delicate moment, with major economies in Asia and Europe already teetering and policymakers' capacity to contain the damage in question."

See also Peter Baker's NYT article about Trump's "justification" for his "order" to U.S. corporations who do business with China, linked below late this morning.

Daniel Dale & Konstantin Toropin of CNN: "When ... Donald Trump was asked Wednesday what victims of mass shootings are telling him about gun laws, he did not answer directly. Instead, he boasted of 'the love for me' among the people he visited in hospitals in El Paso and Dayton after the August massacres in those cities. 'Not only did they meet with me, they were pouring out of the room. The doctors were coming out of the operating rooms. There were hundreds and hundreds of people all over the floor, he said. Facts First: Doctors did not leave any active operating rooms, spokespeople for both the El Paso and Dayton hospitals said. The Dayton spokesperson said doctors did not even leave any patient rooms." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump is so nuts he thinks doctors would let patients die on the operating tables just to get a chance to see the "Chosen One." OR, he's so nuts he knows the doctors did no such thing, so he has to make up the story to puff himself up. Pathetic, either way.

~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump has landed in Biarritz, or thereabouts.

Gabby Orr & Nancy Cook of Politico: "... Donald Trump heads into the G-7 summit ... more isolated than ever -- and perhaps never more in need of the international coordination he has repeatedly assailed. The president faces warnings of a U.S. economic downturn driven partly by his fractious trade negotiations with China. He blames other countries' trade policies for mounting economic risks in the U.S., even as many of those countries teeter on the edge of recession. And Trump is expected to spend his time in southern France urging fellow leaders to follow his lead rather than changing course himself." ...

     ... Update. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump posted a message on Twitter citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 -- a law meant to enable a president to isolate criminal regimes but not intended to be used to cut off economic ties with a major trading partner because of a disagreement over tariffs.... Presidents have used it to target international terrorists, drug kingpins, human rights abusers, cyber attackers, illegal arms proliferators, and multinational criminal organizations.... Seeking to use it in a trade dispute with a country like China would be a drastic departure from its history.... In raising the possibility of forcing American businesses to pull out of China on Friday, Mr. Trump framed it not as a request but as an order he had already issued.... In fact, aides said, no order has been drawn up nor was it clear that he would attempt to do so."

Trump Doubles Down on "Hereby Order." Mary March of the Hill: "President Trump defended his declaration on Friday that American companies were 'hereby ordered' to find alternatives to manufacturing in China, claiming that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act gave him the power to make such a pronouncement. Trump took aim at the press for questioning his authority to order businesses out of China, tweeting 'For all of the Fake News Reporters that don't have a clue as to what the law is relative to Presidential powers, China, etc., try looking at the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Case closed!'... Trump had previously cited the 1977 Act, which gives the president the power to regulate commerce during exceptional international crises, earlier Friday before departing for the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in France.... Claude Barfield, an expert in international trade policy at the [conservative] American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told The Hill that Trump doesn't have any authorities to direct U.S. companies to move their businesses to the United States. He called the tweets a clear example of Trump 'popping off' and predicted his advisers would look to do damage control, especially if his remarks negatively impact the stock market." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: "Holy crap! I might lose the election!" is not "an exceptional international crisis."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday said he does not believe North Korean leader Kim Jong Un violated any pact with him by launching another round of projectiles. 'He likes testing missiles,' Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for the Group of Seven (G-7) economies summit in France.... North Korea hours earlier fired two more unidentified projectiles into the East Sea, according to South Korean news agencies[.]" --s ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: But the Prime Minister of Denmark is "nasty."

"Especially Erratic." Peter Baker of the New York Times: "In the space of a few hours, [Donald Trump] declared that his own central bank chief was an 'enemy,' claimed sweeping powers ... to ['hereby] order' American businesses to leave China and, when stock markets predictably tumbled, made a joke of it. Mr. Trump's wild and unscripted pronouncements on Friday renewed questions about his stewardship of the world's largest economy even as he escalated a trade war with China.... Even some of his own aides and allies were alarmed by his behavior, seeing it as the flailing of a president increasingly anxious over the dark clouds some have detected hovering over an economy that until now has been the strongest selling point for his administration. They privately expressed concern that he was hurting the economy.... Mr. Trump has become one of the biggest sources of global economic instability after presiding over a period of growth and job creation.... He started the day boasting that 'the Economy is strong and good, whereas the rest of the world is not doing so well.' Hours later, he lashed out at the Federal Reserve Board for not taking the sort of action usually reserved only for an economy that is weak and bad.... Mr. Trump's tweets caught most of his advisers and staff by surprise." ...

The "Joke": The Dow is down 573 points perhaps on the news that Representative Seth Moulton, whoever that may be, has dropped out of the 2020 Presidential Race! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Friday at 3:01 pm ET

The Antidote: @realDonaldTrump is a clear and present danger -- to our country, to the globe and to himself.... #25thAmendment -- William Weld, GOP presidential candidate ...

... Angry Man in White House Pledges to Punish You Because China. Alan Rappeport & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "President Trump, angered by Beijing’s decision on Friday to retaliate against his next round of tariffs and furious at his Federal Reserve chair for not doing more to juice the economy, said he would increase taxes on all Chinese goods and demanded that American companies stop doing business with China[.] Mr. Trump, in a tweet, said he would raise tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods to 30 percent from the current rate of 25 percent beginning Oct. 1. And he said the United States would tax the remaining $300 billion worth of imports at a 15 percent rate, rather than the 10 percent he had initially planned. Those levies go into effect on Sept. 1.... Those levels are likely to exacerbate the financial pain already being felt from the tariffs as companies and consumers face higher prices for products that they buy from China. Even before the new 30 percent rate, the tariffs were expected to cost the average American household more than $800 per year, according to research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York." The CNBC story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Fred Imbert of CNBC: "Stocks plunged on Friday after ... Donald Trump ordered that U.S. manufacturers find alternatives to their operations in China. Apple led the way lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 623.34 points lower, or 2.4% at 25,628.90. The S&P 500 slid 2.6% to close at 2,847.11. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 3% to end the day at 7,751.77. The losses brought the Dow's decline for August to more than 4%." This is an update of an earlier report. Mrs. McC: What? Just because the POTUS* is insane? You people haven't been paying attention. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... ** Morgan Chalfont of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday pledged to respond to China's latest round of tariffs 'this afternoon,' further ratcheting up the trade war between Washington and Beijing. In a string of tweets sent Friday morning, Trump also said he was ordering U.S. companies to 'immediately start looking for an alternative to China,' proposing they begin making their products in the United States, though it was not immediately clear what authority he was attempting to invoke. Trump has previously pressured companies including Apple to begin producing their goods in the U.S. 'The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP. Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing ... your companies HOME and making your products in the USA,' Trump tweeted." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't have to tell you Trump's "order" is insane. Maybe in a state of emergency -- like war -- Trump could "order" private corporations to alter their trade practices, but I know of no authority a president or president* has to do so for political or economic reasons in peace time. Trump so firmly believes he's a dictator who can push everyone around that he doesn't think twice before trying it. ...

     ... Update. The Washington Post story, by Taylor Telford & others, is here. "The White House does not have the authority to force companies to follow such directives, but his comments came in the middle of a Twitter tirade in which he appeared to be expressing mounting fury that his economic agenda is not coming together. 'I have no idea how the president thinks he can order companies to stop working with China. I'm baffled,' said Brian Riedl, a budget expert at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think-tank." See safari's third comment in today's thread. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ...OR, as Kevin Drum puts it, “Anyway, the president obviously doesn't have the authority to order US companies to do anything, even if he does use a big word like 'hereby.' Still, I assume Republicans will all be shocked and outraged by this megalomaniac attempt to interfere in the free market. Right?" Akhilleus, in yesterday's Comments, invoked the Obama Corollary. (Also linked yesterday.)

... Yun Li of CNBC: "China said Friday it will impose new tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods and resume duties on American autos. The Chinese State Council said it decided to slap tariffs ranging from 5% to 10% on $75 billion U.S. goods in two batches effective on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15. That happens to be when President Donald Trump's latest tariffs on Chinese goods are to take effect. It also said a 25% tariff will be imposed on U.S. cars and a 5% on auto parts and components, which will go into effect on Dec.15. China had paused these tariffs in April. Stocks tumbled and bond yields fell following the announcement." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Jonathan Chait: "President Trump is in the midst of a public meltdown that is humiliating, scary, and banana republic-y even by Trumpy standards. The reason is that Trump started a trade war and China refuses to back down.... Trump has picked fights with lots of countries. Usually they either placate him or try to give him a face-saving way of de-escalating...."

... Earlier, that same morning:

... Jacob Pramuk of CNBC: "... Donald Trump on Friday again ripped into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, comparing him to Chinese President Xi Jinping. 'My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powel or Chairman Xi?' Trump tweeted, misspelling Powell's last name.... Trump tweeted his attack not long after the text of Powell's speech in Jackson Hole Wyoming, was made public. Powell on Friday promised to take the steps needed to maintain U.S. economic growth as fears about a potential recession grow. In his remarks..., [Powell] said the economy has 'continued to perform well overall' but acknowledged 'trade policy uncertainty seems to be playing a role in the global slowdown.' In a previous tweet Friday, Trump said, 'as usual, the Fed did NOTHING!' It is unclear what Trump expected the central bank to do at its symposium, as it does not have a policy meeting until the middle of next month." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Update. The New York Times story, by Jeanna Smialek, is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: A few hours later, it became clear that Trump had more in common with Xi than with Powell when Trump "hereby ordered" U.S. businesses to obey his commands, a power which the communist leader has & which Trump obviously envies.

Renae Merle of the Washington Post: "Attorneys for Deutsche Bank and Capital One repeatedly refused to tell a federal appeals court Friday whether the banks have President Trump's tax returns, citing 'contractual obligations' for rebuffing the court's questions. Trump is appealing a district court ruling that cleared the way for the banks to hand over years of financial records from the president, his three eldest children and the president's companies to two House committees. Toward the end of Friday's hearing, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit considering the appeal asked the banks' attorneys whether the documents subject to the subpoenas could potentially include the president's tax returns.... The banks, which have not publicly taken a position on Trump's efforts to block the subpoenas, agreed to provide the appeals court a letter within 48 hours addressing the matter, but it was unclear what the letters would specify or whether they would be made public." CNN's story is here.

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Attorneys general rarely follow up on inmate deaths, but [William] Barr has continued to bird dog the investigation into how one as high-profile as [Jeffrey] Epstein could have died in federal care, evidence of how serious the matter is for the Justice Department.... Mr. Barr is personally overseeing the four federal inquiries into the matter and is briefed on them multiple times a day.... Mr. Barr's close handling of the case also underscores the toll that a nearly three-year war on the Justice Department's credibility -- waged chiefly by Mr. Trump when he attacked the Russia investigation -- has taken." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I would suggest Barr is less interested in restoring the DOJ's credibility than in creating a diversion from the various unsavory stunts he has undertaken in service of the guy he sees as his No. 1 Client. ...

... LIKE THIS. Dominic Holden of BuzzFeed News: "The Trump administration took its hardest line yet to legalize anti-gay discrimination on Friday when it asked the Supreme Court to declare that federal law allows private companies to fire workers based only on their sexual orientation. An amicus brief filed by the Justice Department weighed in on two cases involving gay workers and what is meant by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination 'because of sex.' The administration argued courts nationwide should stop reading the civil rights law to protect gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers from bias because it was not originally intended to do so. That view conflicts with some lower court rulings that found targeting someone for their sexual orientation is an illegal form of both sex discrimination and sex stereotyping under Title VII." ...

... AND THIS. Hamed Aleaziz, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "An arm of the Justice Department regularly sent summaries and links to articles from an online white nationalist publication over the last year, a BuzzFeed News investigation has found. In addition, similar newsletters sent to the Labor Department, ICE, HUD, and the Department of Homeland Security included links and content from hyperpartisan and conspiracy-oriented publishers.... While these newsletters typically shared articles from local and mainstream national news outlets -- including BuzzFeed News -- they also regularly delivered content from partisan publications touting anti-immigration rhetoric and conspiracy theories. Among these publications: ... VDare, an anti-Semitic and racist site whose editor who has claimed that American culture is under threat from nonwhite peoples..., the Western Journal, a hyperpartisan publisher whose founder once questioned if then-presidential candidate Barack Obama was Muslim, and the Epoch Times, a newspaper associated with the Chinese Falun Gong movement and whose related media properties have backed QAnon, a conspiracy theory claiming a group of high-ranking officials known as the 'Deep State' is subverting ... Donald Trump's goals." ...

... AND THIS. Katelyn Polantz & Caroline Kelly of CNN: "The Justice Department asked a federal court of appeals on Friday to reconsider a case where ... Donald Trump was told he couldn't legally block Twitter users from seeing his tweets. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet said if it would rehear the case. The request comes following a three-judge appellate panel having decided in July that Trump blocking users on Twitter from following or interacting with his account handle @realDonaldTrump was unconstitutional. The Justice Department, which has represented Trump in the lawsuit, called the matter one of 'exceptional importance.' The department maintains that Trump's Twitter account is his personal account and will remain his handle after he leaves office." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: What a grotesque waste of taxpayer money, Bill Barr. If Trump were using his Twitter account for nothing but sharing taco salad recipes and cute pictures of him romping with Barron, he might have a case. But Trump uses the account for official business every day: he orders troop withdrawals, communicates with foreign leaders, changes Pentagon policy, fires top staff & now hereby orders U.S. companies to run their businesses in ways he favors. Former press secretary Sean Spicer even said Trump's tweets were "official White House statements." Barr is using the DOJ to press a manifest lie. ...

... Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department has canceled a news-clip service for employees in its immigration review office after Monday's edition included a link to and a summary of a blog post from a white-nationalist website that used an anti-Semitic slur, officials said Friday. In an email Friday, employees at the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) were told that 'the Communications and Legislative Affairs Division will no longer distribute a daily news briefing within EOIR,' and were given instructions for how to sign up for a different department-wide briefing service, if they wished to receive those notifications.... The Justice Department called the Florida-headquartered firm [TechMIS] Friday and explained its decision. The contract expires at the end of August." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Barrett's story refers only to the clips that went to EOIR. It isn't clear whether or not the DOJ also is cancelling TechMIS's clips to the other agencies which BuzzFeed outlines in the story linked above.

     ... Bill Barr has a couple of investigations going into the FBI for its checking out Russian interference in the 2016 elections, & he has four, count 'em four investigations running on the federal prison system. Where are the investigations about of ICE & Customs & Border Patrol? Everyone knows these agencies are out of control, yet Bill Barr seems totally unconcerned. ...

... Noah Lanard of Mother Jones: "In February, Congress directed ICE to reduce its detention population, but ICE has ignored that request. After President Donald Trump forced a government shutdown in December, legislators ... directed ICE to go from detaining nearly 49,000 people to 40,520 by October. Instead, ICE has pushed its detention population to all-time highs. The agency was detaining a record-high 55,220 people as of Saturday and has been rapidly contracting with new private prisons to house that increased number of detainees." --s

Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Immigration authorities did not realize for eight days earlier this month that they had detained both parents of two children [aged 12 and 14] in Mississippi after a massive workplace raid, family members told ABC News." --s

Presidential Race 2020

Trip Gabriel & Isabella Paz of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Friday took a series of unusual rhetorical detours at the end of a town-hall-style campaign event nominally dedicated to health care, speculating about how a political assassination of Barack Obama might have affected the country in 2008 and recalling that he was accused of being gay because of his support of women's rights in the 1970s.... A campaign spokesman said Mr. Biden had previously drawn an analogy between an Obama assassination and the political killings of 1968 [-- Biden's senior year in college --] when speaking to younger audiences not alive at the time."

Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts is dropping out of the presidential race, ending a candidacy that emphasized Mr. Moulton's centrist politics and military service but gained no traction with Democratic primary voters.... He warned in [an] interview that if Democrats were to embrace an overly liberal platform, it could make it harder for the party to defeat President Trump." The CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "The Epoch Times, a conservative publication that has become a key promoter of President Trump and been criticized for spreading conspiracy theories, has been barred from advertising on Facebook. An NBC News investigation earlier this week showed how the Epoch Times became Trump's biggest advocate on the social media platform, morphing from a nonprofit newspaper with anti-communist messages into a conservative outlet often promoting the White House and right-wing theories. Facebook banned future ads after NBC News' reporting showed that the Epoch Times had shifted its spending on Facebook in a way that blurred its links to $2 million worth of ads promoting Trump and disparaging his critics. Pro-Trump conspiracy ads peddled by the Epoch Times would appear under page names like 'Honest Paper' and 'Pure American Journalism,' which effectively bypassed Facebook's rules around political advertising and transparency." The NBC News story is here.

Elizabeth Thomas & Devin Dwyer of ABC News: "Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was recently treated for a 'localized malignant tumor' on her pancreas, a court spokesperson said Friday. 'The tumor was treated definitively and there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body,' the spokesperson said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Daniel Markovits in the Atlantic writes about the rise of "meritocracy" and how it leaves everyone worse off. --s

Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "David H. Koch, who joined his brother, Charles G. Koch, in business and political ventures that grew into the nation's second-largest private company and a powerful right-wing libertarian movement that helped reshape American politics, has died. He was 79." Thanks to unwashed for the lead. Here's the NBC News obituary. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Just a Reminder. Jessica Piper of Open Secrets (June 7): "Over the last two decades, the Koch network ... spent about $120 million ... supporting Republican candidates or opposing Democratic candidates.... They have not spent a single dollar supporting Democratic candidates during that time." --s

Lynh Bui of the Washington Post: "Leon Haughton, a legal U.S. resident & green-card holder, bought three bottles of honey from a Jamaica roadside stand last Christmas "before heading home to Maryland. It was a routine purchase for him until he landed at the airport in Baltimore. Customs officers detained Haughton and police arrested him, accusing him of smuggling in not honey, but liquid meth. Haughton spent nearly three months in jail before all charges were dropped and two rounds of law enforcement lab tests showed no controlled substances in the bottles." There's an AFP report here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Isaac Chotiner of the New Yorker interviews "Amy Wax, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School..., the academic who perhaps best represents the ideology of the Trump Administration's immigration restrictionists. Wax, who began her professional life as a neurologist, and who served in the Solicitor General's office in the late eighties and early nineties, has become known in recent years for her belief in the superiority of 'Anglo-Protestant culture.' In 2017, Wax said, in an interview, 'I don't think I've ever seen a black student graduate in the top quarter of the class, and rarely, rarely, in the top half.' The dean of Penn Law School, Theodore Ruger, said that Wax had spoken 'disparagingly and inaccurately' and had been barred from teaching core-curriculum classes.... During our conversation..., Wax expounded on her beliefs that people of Western origin are more scrupulous, empirical, and orderly than people of non-Western origin, and that women are less intellectual than men. She described these views as the outcome of rigorous and realistic thinking, while offering evidence that ranged from two studies by a eugenicist to personal anecdotes, several of which concerned her conviction that white people litter less than people of color." (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond the Beltway

Hans von der Burchard & Rym Momtaz of Politico: "Only two months after Europe concluded a landmark trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc [Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay. Uruguay & other South American countries], the French president [Emmanuel Macron] is threatening to kill it off over what he sees as betrayal by Brazil's maverick President Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of allowing big business interests like ranchers and loggers to torch the [Amazon rainforest]. Macron has called for the burning Amazon to lead the agenda of the G7 summit he is hosting in Biarritz this weekend. In an unusually undiplomatic broadside against his Brazilian counterpart, he concluded that Bolsonaro 'lied to him' about the Mercosur pact when it was struck in June, by promising to respect the Paris Climate Agreement and to protect the rainforest, an Elysée official said. If France doesn't sign up to the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, it is dead." ...

... Looks like that got Bolsonaro's attention. ...

... Victor Caivano of the AP: "Under international pressure to contain fires sweeping parts of Brazil's Amazon, President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday authorized use of the military to battle the huge blazes while thousands took to the streets to protest his environmental policies. Brazilian forces will deploy starting Saturday to border areas, indigenous territories and other affected regions in the Amazon to assist in putting out fires for a month, according to a presidential decree authorizing use of the army. The military will 'act strongly' to control the wildfires, Bolsonaro promised as he signed the decree.... Bolsonaro has previously described rainforest protections as an obstacle to Brazil's economic development, sparring with critics who note that the Amazon produces vast amounts of oxygen and is considered crucial for efforts to contain climate change. As the president spoke, thousands of Brazilians demonstrated in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and the capital of Brasilia demanding the government announce concrete actions to curb the fires.... An Associated Press journalist who traveled to the Amazon region Friday saw many already deforested areas that had been burned.... In some instances, the burned fields were adjacent to intact livestock ranches and other farms, suggesting the fires had been managed as part of a land-clearing policy." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: I assume that "act strongly" is a translation from the original Portugese, but it is still notable that Bolsonaro & Trump use exactly the same weird clause, one that normal speakers never say.