The Not-So-Secret Life of Donald Trump

Sometimes when I read or hear a story of some horrifying event, I will imagine how I would or should or could handle it, were I at the scene. I calculate what might be the heroic thing to do, and I try to place myself as the hero. Such imaginings actually may be practical "rehearsals," in that they give one a chance to think through how to act instantaneously in rare, dangerous situations. I would guess most people imagine themselves in dangerous situations, more or less in this way. This is not to suggest we're all running around like latter-day Walter Mittys, absorbed in fantasies. Well, that is, most of us are not. Moreover, we don't confuse these momentary musings with real-life events. Well, that is, most of us do not.

But I know of someone who does; that is, someone who not only fantasizes that he is a hero, but also quickly comes to believe his fantasies are real. Unfortunately, he is the President* of the United States.

Here's a case in point. During his nutty Rose Garden speech last week, Donald Trump said,

...I believe he [President Obama] would have gone to war with North Korea. I think he was ready to go to war. In fact, he told me he was so close to starting a big war with North Korea. And where are we now?  No missiles. No rockets. No nuclear testing. We’ve learned a lot. But much more importantly than all of it — much more important — much, much more important that that is we have a great relationship.  I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un.  And I’ve done a job.  In fact, I think I can say this: Prime Minister Abe of Japan gave me the most beautiful copy of a letter that he sent to the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize.  He said, 'I have nominated you…' or 'Respectfully, on behalf of Japan, I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize.'  I said, 'Thank you.'  Many other people feel that way too.  I’ll probably never get it, but that’s okay.

Let's unpack that.

As Peter Baker reports in today's New York Times, this is not the first time Trump has made himself the hero of this particular story: "'That was going to be a war that could have been a World War III, to be honest with you,' Mr. Trump said at a cabinet meeting last month. 'Anybody else but me, you’d be in war right now,' he told reporters a few days later. 'And I can tell you, the previous administration would have been in war right now if that was extended. You would, right now, be in a nice, big, fat war in Asia with North Korea if I wasn’t elected president.'”

Trump even made the same claim in this year's State of the Union address: “If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea with potentially millions of people killed.”

But the story is a fable. Baker writes, "It is impossible to prove a negative, of course, but nobody who worked for Mr. Obama has publicly endorsed this assessment, nor have any of the memoirs that have emerged from his administration disclosed any serious discussion of military action against North Korea. Several veterans of the Obama era made a point of publicly disputing Mr. Trump’s characterization on Friday."

We were not on the brink of war with North Korea in 2016. -- Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, in a tweet

President Obama was never on the verge of starting any war with North Korea, large or small. -- John Brennan, Obama's CIA director, on MSNBC

Oh, as for Trump's claim that Japan's prime minister nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize? Uh, probably not:

Roberta Rampton of Japan Today: "He said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had given him 'the most beautiful copy' of a five-page letter in which Abe nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for opening talks and easing tensions with North Korea. 'You know why? Because he had rocket ships and he had missiles flying over Japan,' Trump said. 'Now, all of a sudden, they feel good. They feel safe. I did that,' Trump said, adding that the Obama administration 'couldn't have done it.' The White House declined further comment on Trump's claim that Abe had nominated him, and a spokesman for the Japanese embassy said he had no information about such a letter." *

Update: Makiko Yamazaki of Reuters: "Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated ... Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last autumn after receiving a request from the U.S. government to do so, the Asahi newspaper reported on Sunday." Emphasis added, while laughing.

According to Baker, "Mr. Trump bases his argument on the single extended conversation he has ever had with Mr. Obama. In November 2016, Mr. Obama invited ... [Trump] to the White House for a 90-minute discussion of the issues awaiting him. Mr. Trump’s account of that conversation has evolved over time. At first, he said that Mr. Obama told him that North Korea would be the new administration’s toughest foreign policy challenge, which seems plausible enough. Only later did Mr. Trump add the supposed war discussion."

As Baker writes, "The only president who has vocally threatened war on North Korea in recent times is Mr. Trump. After a provocative intercontinental ballistic missile test, Mr. Trump in the summer of 2017 threatened to rain down 'fire and fury' on North Korea and a month later told the United Nations General Assembly that he would 'totally destroy North Korea' if it threatened the United States. In January 2018, after North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, talked of having a nuclear button, Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter that 'I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!'”

Trump is Walter Mitty on steroids. Mitty has his heroic fantasies, but he keeps returning, if reluctantly, to the real world where his wife badgers him & others push him around. Trump has his fantasies, but he never returns to the real world. The fantasies become real. He is the hero of these fantasties. There are bad guys -- like President Obama -- and there are Trump fans, like Prime Minister Abe.

In this particular fantasy, Trump has used his negotiating skills & charm to single-handedly prevent World War III. He has saved "millions of" lives. This is not true, but Trump has imagined it, and so it has "become." The reason Trump doesn't trust his intelligence agencies is that they tell him things that run contrary to this imagined world. Andrew McCabe writes in his new book of a July 2017 briefing in which intelligence officials told Trump that North Korea had, for the first time, test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile. "... Trump called the launch ... a 'hoax,' telling officials he knew North Korea did not have the ability to launch that type of missile 'because Vladimir Putin had told him so.'" Of course, there's no way to know what Putin may have told Trump because Trump eats any notes of his conversations with Putin. It is hard to know what is more alarming: that Trump believes an adversary over his own intelligence team or that Trump just made up the entire story. Either way, Trump is so obviously unfit for office.

Since Trump's fantasy world requires bad guys to defeat, he invents villains. He claims the bad guy -- President Obama -- was planning to start a devastating war with North Korea "with potentially millions of people killed." Here, it is also possible that Trump imagines Hillary Clinton is the phantom villain, because he says this horrible war would have occurred had he not been elected. That is, it's possible that she would have started the war that Obama somehow restrained himself from starting. There is no evidence Clinton would have started a war with North Korea and there is ample evidence that Obama never planned to do so. But Trump has imagined it, so it has "become." This fantasy is so real to Trump that he shares it with the American people.

Trump's fantasies also require international acclaim. He imagines Shinzo Abe is so grateful to Trump for ending the rain of North Korean "rocket ships and missiles" over Japan that Abe has nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. There is no evidence for this, but Trump needs veneration, so he imagines it. To Trump this probably imaginary nomination has "become," so he shares it.

Donald Trump's fantasies -- his lies -- are not without meaning or consequence. We are all paying for them. Whether it's his climate change denial or his rich people's tax cut law or his wall, or whatever, in more ways than one, we are all victims of Donald Trump's not-so-secret life.

The Commentariat -- February 17, 2019

Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and a top adviser, looked on from the crowd, stone-faced. -- Washington Post ...

... Griff Witte & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "An annual security conference where Western allies have long forged united fronts erupted Saturday into a full-scale assault on the Trump administration's foreign policy. European leaders, would-be Democratic challengers and even the president's Republican backers took the floor to rebuke the president's go-it-alone approach. German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- habitually cautious about provoking Trump -- led the charge, unleashing a stinging, point-by-point takedown of the administration's tendency to treat its allies as adversaries.... Merkel accused the United States of strengthening Iran and Russia with its plans for a speedy military pullout from Syria. She expressed shock that the Trump administration would deem BMWs made in South Carolina a threat to national security.... The crowd gave the German chancellor an extended standing ovation -- a rare display at the normally button-down Munich Security Conference. The customarily reserved Merkel beamed as she took her seat.... Merkel was followed to the podium Saturday by Vice President Pence, who was met with only tepid applause -- and some incredulous looks -- when he proclaimed Trump 'the leader of the free world.'" ...

... Katrin Bennhold & Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany delivered a strong rejoinder on Saturday to American demands that European allies pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and gave a spirited defense of multilateral institutions in a world increasingly marked by great-power rivalry. In an uncharacteristically passionate speech, Ms. Merkel said the nuclear deal was the best way of influencing Iranian behavior on a range of non-nuclear issues, from missile development to terrorism. Without mentioning President Trump or the United States by name in what may be her last speech to this major security conference, Ms. Merkel criticized other unilateral moves, such as Mr. Trump's decision to pull American troops out of Syria, a suggestion that he would withdraw quickly from Afghanistan and his decision to suspend the Intermediate Range Missile Treaty with Russia, which directly affects European security.... Ms. Merkel spoke immediately before the United States vice president, Mike Pence, and addressed a packed auditorium with an audience that included Mr. Trump's daughter Ivanka, as well as the Russian foreign minister and a high-ranking Chinese official, who all pointedly remained seated when the chancellor received a standing ovation. Her reception was in sharp contrast to the polite near-silence that greeted Mr. Pence's address.... Mr. Pence focused less on working together and more on a list of demands for American allies based on American interests, with a heavy emphasis on a combative approach to Iran."

... Idiots Abroad. Washington Post Editors: "Many Europeans suspect that the Trump administration has little regard for the close alliances with Britain, France and Germany that have shaped U.S. foreign policy since World War II, preferring the autocratic ethnonationalism that has emerged in the nations of Central Europe. A bumbling series of appearances across the continent last week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Pence will surely reinforce those conclusions. Mr. Pompeo began the week by paying court to the Hungarian regime of Viktor Orban, who has become a virtual pariah in European capitals because of his embrace of 'illiberal democracy.'... The secretary of state extended his goodwill tour to Slovakia -- where a leading journalist who exposed government corruption was murdered last year -- before meeting up in Poland with Mr. Pence for a ... poorly-conceived ... U.S.-organized conference on the Middle East.... the broad message of the week is that the Trump administration is aligning itself with those European forces that flout liberal values while denigrating allies that for 75 years have supported U.S. global leadership."

Linda Qiu of the New York Times: "To justify redirecting federal funds to a wall, the president made a litany of assertions about crime, drugs and other issues on the southern border. Nearly all were misleading, exaggerated or false." (Also linked yesterday afternoon) ...

... Glenn Kessler & Meg Kelly of the Washington Post: "Where to begin with President Trump's rambling news conference to announce he was invoking a national emergency to build a border wall? It was chock-full of false and misleading claims, many of which we've previously highlighted.... Here's a summary of 14 of the most noteworthy claims...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon) ...

Eric Levitz of New York: "On Friday morning, the president of the United States announced that America was suffering from a national emergency, that invaders were pouring across its southern border -- and that Rush Limbaugh is a 'great guy' who can 'speak for three hours without taking a phone call; try doing that some time!' That last declaration wasn't nearly as much of a non sequitur as one would hope. Donald Trump's decision to override the will of Congress -- and unilaterally fund his border wall through a fictitious emergency -- was the direct product of his affection for conservative media personalities. On Tuesday night, Sean Hannity told his viewers that he could tolerate Trump signing a bipartisan spending bill that lacked funding for 'the wall,' so long as the president simultaneously used an emergency order to unilaterally finance his signature policy. Three days later, Trump did exactly that." Levitz points out that Trump's base is so solid, he could have promoted -- and forced upon the GOP Congress -- actual populist & progressive legislation and not lost any of his base. He's a dick because he wants to be a dick, not because he has to be.

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Democrats are taking their first real steps to force ... Donald Trump to divulge information about his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, setting up an extraordinary clash with the White House over Congress' oversight authority. Rep. Adam Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman, and Rep. Eliot Engel, the Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, told Politico they are actively consulting with House General Counsel Douglas Letter about the best way to legally compel the Trump administration to turn over documents or other information related to the president's one-on-one discussions with the Russian leader.... In particular, Democrats say they want to find out what Trump and Putin discussed during their private meeting in Helsinki last July, where Trump put himself at odds with the U.S. intelligence community and declared -- while standing next to the Russian president -- that the Kremlin did not interfere in the 2016 elections." (Also linked yesterday)

Dwight Garner in the New York Times: Former FBI acting director Andrew McCabe's "'The Threat' is a concise yet substantive account of how the F.B.I. works, at a moment when its procedures and impartiality are under attack. It's an unambiguous indictment of Trump's moral behavior.... McCabe writes. 'The work of the F.B.I. is being undermined by the current president.'... McCabe's accounts of his baffled interactions with Jeff Sessions, the former attorney general, would be high comedy if they were not so dire.... We see a Sessions who is openly racist.... He spends a good deal of time talking about Hillary Clinton and her email server. He argues that [James] Comey, whom he admires, made crucial mistakes in how he handled the matter. 'As a matter of policy, the F.B.I. does everything possible not to influence elections. In 2016, it seems we did.'"

Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump&'s pick to be the next United Nations ambassador withdrew from consideration Saturday, the State Department said. The department's spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, had been tapped to succeed Nikki Haley at the United Nations, but her name was never formally sent to the Senate for confirmation. The withdrawal is related to the employment of a nanny who was in the country illegally, said three people.... But according to a person familiar with Nauert's situation, the nanny was in the country legally.... It is unclear if she will return as spokeswoman." ...

... Matthew Lee of the AP: "Heather Nauert, picked by ... Donald Trump to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations but never officially nominated, has withdrawn from consideration, the State Department said.... Nauert's impending nomination had been considered a tough sell in the Senate, where she would have faced tough questions about her relative lack of foreign policy experience, according to congressional aides. A potential issue involving a nanny that she and her husband had employed may also have been a factor in her decision to withdraw, according to one aide. That issue, which was first reported by Bloomberg on Saturday, centered on a foreign nanny who was legally in the U.S. but did not have legal status to work, according to the aide.... The aide said some involved in the vetting process saw Nauert&'s inexperience and questions about her ability to represent the U.S. at the U.N. as a larger issue."

Presidential Race 2020. Holly Otterbein of Politico: "Bernie Sanders, inching closer to a second bid for the White House, has recorded a campaign video in which he says he is running for president in 2020, according to two people familiar with the spot.... Another hint that Sanders is getting closer to a launch: As Politico reported this week, the Sanders team has been interviewing people for top staff positions."

Elizabeth Dias & Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis has expelled Theodore E. McCarrick, a former cardinal and archbishop of Washington, from the priesthood, after the church found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and adult seminarians over decades, the Vatican said on Saturday. The move appears to be the first time any cardinal has been defrocked for sexual abuse -- marking a critical moment in the Vatican's handling of a scandal that has gripped the church for nearly two decades. It is also the first time an American cardinal has been removed from the priesthood." (Also linked yesterday)

Beyond the Beltway

Illinois. Don Babwin & Caryn Rousseau of the AP: "The man who opened fire and killed five co-workers including the plant manager, human resources manager and an intern working his first day at a suburban Chicago manufacturing warehouse, took a gun he wasn't supposed to have to a job he was about to lose. Right after learning Friday that he was being fired from his job of 15 years at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, Gary Martin pulled out a gun and began shooting, killing the three people in the room with him and two others just outside and wounding a sixth employee, police said Saturday.... Martin, 45, had six arrests over the years in Aurora, for what police Chief Kristen Ziman described as 'traffic and domestic battery-related issues' and for violating an order of protection. He also had a 1995 felony conviction for aggravated assault in Mississippi that should have prevented him from buying his gun, Ziman said."

Illinois. Ryan Young, et al., of CNN: "Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation tell CNN that Chicago Police believe actor Jussie Smollett paid two men to orchestrate an assault on him that he reported late last month. Smollett denies playing a role in his attack, according to a statement from his attorneys. The men, who are brothers, were arrested Wednesday but released without charges Friday after Chicago police cited the discovery of 'new evidence.' The sources told CNN the two men are now cooperating fully with law enforcement.... One of the men has appeared on 'Empire,' [a Chicago Police spokesman] said. A police source also told CNN on Friday night that the men had a previous affiliation with Smollett, but did not provide additional details." ...

... Charlie De Mar of CBS News Chicago: "Jussie Smollett paid two brothers to stage an attack against him, directed them to buy items used in the alleged assault and actually rehearsed it with them, sources say.... The brothers, who were questioned by police this week before being released, were paid $3,500 before leaving for Nigeria and were promised an additional $500 upon their return.... Police raided ... the brothers' home on Wednesday, the same day police met them at O'Hare International Airport, as they were returning from Nigeria."

The Commentariat -- February 16, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Democrats are taking their first real steps to force ... Donald Trump to divulge information about his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, setting up an extraordinary clash with the White House over Congress' oversight authority. Rep. Adam Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman, and Rep. Eliot Engel, the Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, told Politico they are actively consulting with House General Counsel Douglas Letter about the best way to legally compel the Trump administration to turn over documents or other information related to the president's one-on-one discussions with the Russian leader.... In particular, Democrats say they want to find out what Trump and Putin discussed during their private meeting in Helsinki last July, where Trump put himself at odds with the U.S. intelligence community and declared --; while standing next to the Russian president -- that the Kremlin did not interfere in the 2016 elections."

Linda Qiu of the New York Times: "To justify redirecting federal funds to a wall, the president made a litany of assertions about crime, drugs and other issues on the southern border. Nearly all were misleading, exaggerated or false." ...

... Glenn Kessler & Meg Kelly of the Washington Post: "Where to begin with President Trump's rambling news conference to announce he was invoking a national emergency to build a border wall? It was chock-full of false and misleading claims, many of which we've previously highlighted.... Here's a summary of 14 of the most noteworthy claims...."

Elizabeth Dias & Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis has expelled Theodore E. McCarrick, a former cardinal and archbishop of Washington, from the priesthood, after the church found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and adult seminarians over decades, the Vatican said on Saturday. The move appears to be the first time any cardinal has been defrocked for sexual abuse -- marking a critical moment in the Vatican's handling of a scandal that has gripped the church for nearly two decades. It is also the first time an American cardinal has been removed from the priesthood."

*****

#FakeTrumpEmergency

The president's actions clearly violate the Congress's exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution. The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available. We call upon our Republican colleagues to join us to defend the Constitution. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi & Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a joint statement.

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: One big problem: the public doesn't understand the concept of separation of powers that Democrats are trying to protect. Most (74 percent) can't even name the three branches of government, much less understand the established Constitutional relationship among them.

Shannon Vavra of Axios: "The House Judiciary Committee announced it will investigate President Trump's national emergency declaration in light of comments he made at his Rose Garden press conference on Friday morning, during which he claimed that he 'didn't need to do this.'... In a letter addressed to Trump, Democrats who control the committee requested a hearing with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and 'appropriate individuals' from the Justice Department, as well as background documents related to the decision and written responses to a number of questions. The panel asked Trump to provide the relevant information by Feb. 22."

Connor O'Brien of Politico: "... Donald Trump's decision to tap into billions of dollars in defense funding to help build his signature border wall drew fierce criticism Friday from military-minded lawmakers in both parties, who warned the move would damage military readiness. Trump's declaration of a national emergency, including tapping into $3.6 billion in military construction funding to finance more barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, set off another firestorm on Capitol Hill as he declared that the military projects his administration intended to raid 'didn't sound too important to me.'... House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) vowed stiff oversight to highlight specific military projects Trump 'has chosen to value less' than a border wall.'... Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, called Trump's move a 'dangerous precedent' and warned 'securing our border should not be done at the expense of previously funded military construction projects.'"

Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News: "A consumer advocacy group filed the first lawsuit late Friday challenging ... Donald Trump's national emergency declaration, suing on behalf of Texas landowners and an environmental group who say they'll be affected by border wall construction. The case, filed by Public Citizen in federal district court in Washington, DC, is the first of what are expected to be multiple lawsuits challenging Trump's unprecedented decision to declare a national emergency in order to access $3.6 billion in military construction funds to pay for more sections of the wall he promised to build along the US-Mexico border." ...

... ACLU: "The American Civil Liberties Union today announced that it will file a lawsuit challenging President Trump's emergency powers declaration to secure funds to build a wall along the southern border."

Matt Wilstein of the Daily Beast: "Ann Coulter says she's thankful President Trump distanced himself from her on Friday after he disappointed her once again by signing a bipartisan border deal while simultaneously declaring a national emergency to fund his wall. 'I haven't spoken to her. I don't follow her. I don't talk to her, but the press loves to bring up the name Ann Coulter,' Trump told reporters from the Rose Garden Friday morning.... The president's 'mandate,' Coulter said, was to build the wall. And even though that's what he plans to do by declaring a national emergency, she's not happy about it. 'The only national emergency is that our president is an idiot,' she said.... Coulter predicted that the courts will use the bill Trump just signed to block him from building the wall, once again calling him a 'lazy' and 'incompetent' president who is surrounded by 'absolute morons' like Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump."

I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster. And I don't have to do it for the election. I've already done a lot of wall for the election. 2020. And the only reason we're up here talking about this is because of the election -- because they want to try to win an election, which it looks like they're not going to be able to do. -- Donald Trump, explaining in the Rose Garden why his "national emergency" was an unnecessary, bogus political gambit

Trump also said, 'I made a deal ... but I'm not happy with it,' making clear that he sees the emergency declaration as a way to get around Congress. -- Noah Lanard of Mother Jones

So then Trump rushed off to Mar-a-Lago to oversee the "national emergency" while playing golf over the long weekend. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump declared a national emergency at the border on Friday to access billions of dollars to build a border wall that Congress refused to give him, transforming a highly charged policy dispute into a fundamental confrontation over separation of powers. In a televised announcement in the Rose Garden, Mr. Trump said he would sign the declaration to protect the country from the flow of drugs, criminals and illegal immigrants coming across the border from Mexico, which he characterized as a profound threat to national security." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Damian Paletta, et al., of the Washington Post: "During a 50-minute, meandering Rose Garden news conference, Trump offered little empirical evidence to back up his assertion that there was a crisis on the border requiring an extraordinary response. Instead, he invoked hyperbolic, campaign-style rhetoric about lawlessness that he said only walls could suitably address.... He later said the emergency declaration wasn't urgent but rather expedient, as it would help him build a wall more quickly than Congress would allow.... Democrats and several Republicans predicted a two-pronged response to the declaration: one, having Congress vote to reject it in the coming weeks, and two, suing Trump -- or at least aiding other parties that attempt to intervene.... White House officials plan to use $8 billion to build new fencing that they believe will block or discourage a wide range of immigrants." The reporters break down the planned sources of those funds. ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The idea that the situation at the border is truly a 'national emergency' already strained credulity. And at Friday’s news conference, President Trump might have just erased any doubt about his true motivation.... 'I didn't need to do this,' Trump said. 'But I'd rather do it much faster.'... If it's truly an emergency, how can you say you didn't need to declare an emergency? Trump basically admitted that this was a choice for him -- a matter of expediency, quite literally -- and not something required by events on the ground.... He repeatedly disagreed with data, even data produced by his own administration, about what's happening on the border. He called reports showing the vast majority of drugs come through ports of entry, where a wall wouldn't matter, a 'lie.' Of data that show undocumented immigrants commit less crime than native-born Americans, Trump told the reporter, 'You don't really believe that stat, do you?'"...

... ** Dana Milbank: "... with the nation watching, Trump ... delivered a bizarre, 47-minute variant of his campaign speech. He boasted about the economy, military spending and the stock markets ('we have all the records'), and he applauded the Chinese president's pledge to execute people who deal fentanyl ('one of the things I'm most excited about in our trade deal'). [Read on for a good summary of bizarro claims.] Somewhere, administration lawyers were face-palming.... CNN's Jim Acosta pointed out that border crossings are near record lows and illegal immigrants are not disproportionately criminal. 'You're fake news,' Trump replied. Playboy's Brian Karem asked Trump to 'clarify where you get your numbers.' 'Sit down,' Trump told him, declaring that 'I use many stats.' Minutes later, he pumped a fist in the air and departed. 'What about the 25th Amendment?' Acosta called after him. Trump's performance had already provided a compelling answer." ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "The President lets it all hang out: the incoherence, the fabrications, the mendacity, the raging but delicate ego, the attention-deficit disorder, and, occasionally, the revealing shards of self-illumination. He just can't help himself.... Trump's description of the situation at the border is almost entirely fictitious, of course, but in one sense it is real. It's a central element of the political narrative he has constructed for his white-nationalist base over the past three and a half years, and, as he helpfully sought to explain, it's one he can't easily back away from at this stage.... In [his] carefully concocted narrative, the wall isn't a mere stretch of concrete or steel fencing stretching along the border; it's a symbol of national sovereignty and regeneration. But, if it's so important, why didn't Trump get it built during his first two years in office, when the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress? Trump's failure to ge his own party to support what was arguably his signature campaign pledge demonstrates that he is fundamentally a weak and isolated President.... [Mitch McConnell's capitulation] was yet another example of how the G.O.P. leadership's Faustian pact with Trump has driven them to enable his more authoritarian tendencies. ...

     ... Matt Ford of the New Republic: "So why did McConnell relent and declare his support for the president's plan to declare a national emergency? Trump reportedly had last-minute apprehensions about signing the compromise spending bill, even though a veto would have triggered another partial government shutdown for which Republicans would bear the blame. McConnell could not risk that, and likely was unable to change Trump's mind about the emergency declaration. This is the perfect encapsulation of the ruling Republican Party today: an uncompromising president who inflicts long-term damage to avoid the short-term humiliation, and a spineless leader of the Senate who stands by him every step of the way."

... Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Forced to confront arguably the biggest surrender of his presidency, Mr. Trump did what he often does after a loss: respond with distraction, digression and entertainment, through a fog of words. There was no teleprompter. He hardly looked at his notes. There was just Mr. Trump, dressed in a dark overcoat and bright blue tie, free-associating in tweetable sound bites.... A White House handout was titled 'President Donald J. Trump's Border Security Victory.'... The Rose Garden has become Mr. Trump's chosen backdrop for pitching defeats as victories.... Employing a singsong voice that seemed meant to play down the significance of the separation of powers he will be testing, Mr. Trump walked through what he anticipated would be the legal ramifications of his order.... Throughout, Mr. Trump focused on grisly, specific stories while ignoring questions about why there needed to be a national emergency now, as opposed to two years ago."

Michael Tackett of the New York Times: "Here are six takeaways from Mr. Trump's action. Trump will go to almost any length to appease his base.... Democrats probably can't stop him, but they can make it awkward... Pulling money from elsewhere could make new enemies.... A court challenge is a near certainty.... Expect to hear a lot from [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi about a basic tenet of American government, that Congress is a coequal branch of government that is not cowed by presidential whim."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Trump on Friday pointed to nearly five dozen previous instances in which presidents of both parties have declared emergencies as justification for his invocation of extraordinary powers to build his border wall.... He portrayed his invocation of emergency powers as a routine use of executive authority that was never controversial when his predecessors did it.... But there is no precedent for what he has just done. None of the times emergency powers have been invoked since 1976, the year Congress enacted the National Emergencies Act, involved a president making an end run around lawmakers to spend money on a project they had decided against funding. Mr. Trump, by contrast, is challenging the bedrock principle that the legislative branch controls the government's purse."

Jonathan Chait: "Trump's extemporaneous commentary defending his emergency decision repeatedly gave away his own rationale. He admitted he could have passed border funding through Congress during his first year and a half, but he was 'too new to politics,' and his fellow Republicans 'didn't step up.' And he admitted the emergency declaration was a luxury rather than an emergency ('I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster.'). He is clumsily undermining his already-shaky legal case, while making it plain his ploy is to claim Executive powers to override an area of control for Congress.... Trump chillingly praised anti-drug policy in authoritarian China, which he claims has achieved total success by brutalizing criminals. His argument for a wall could just as easily be used to justify overriding criminal-justice protections.... Trump has at minimum proven that he lacks the temperament or basic competence to serve as president of the United States." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It was kind of enjoyable to hear Trump admit he didn't know WTF he was doing when he was "too new to politics," & completely predictable that he would blame Ryan & McConnell, et al., for failing to "step up." ...

... Henry Olsen of the Washington Post: "Trump's rambling and disjointed explanation for his decision is a perfect example why so many independents and former Republicans find him unacceptable.... Words matter when you are president. They are a president's strongest weapon.... A leader who can't string together an original coherent paragraph loses ... voters' respect.... Friday morning's speech was significantly worse than normal even for a man whose rhetorical style will never be confused with Cicero's."

... Trump said during Q&A that the Pentagon's planned spending projects "didn't seem too important to" him. One of the piggy banks Trump is planning to raid is for military housing. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Joshua Schneyer, et al., of Reuters: "Deeply troubled by military housing conditions exposed by Reuters reporting, the U.S. Army's top leadership vowed Friday to renegotiate its housing contracts with private real estate firms, test tens of thousands of homes for toxins and hold its own commanders responsible for protecting Army base residents from dangerous homes. In an interview, the Secretary of the Army Mark Esper said Reuters reports and a chorus of concerns from military families had opened his eyes to the need for urgent overhauls of the Army's privatized housing system, which accommodates more than 86,000 families. The secretary's conclusion: Private real estate firms tasked with managing and maintaining the housing stock have been failing the families they serve, and the Army itself neglected its duties." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Daily Beast: "Replying to a tweet that claimed 'the goal of a national emergency is to end illegal immigration and cartel smuggling,' Coulter wrote that 'no, the goal of a national emergency is for Trump to scam the stupidest people in his base for 2 more years.' In a subsequent tweet, she added that 'The goal is to get Trump's stupidest voters to say "HE'S FIGHTING!" No he's not. If he signs this bill, it's over.'"

Brian Krassenstein of the Hill Reporter: "In [a] 2014 video, first posted by Conservative pundit, and Trump critic Bill Kristol, former Indiana Governor and current Vice President, Mike Pence attacks Obama's use of executive powers to push through new immigration policy. 'I think it would be a profound mistake for the President of the United States to overturn American immigration law with the stroke of a pen,' Pence, said in the video, taken at the annual Republican Governors Association conference in New Jersey, just days after President Obama announced that he would use his executive powers to offer temporary legal status to certain undocumented immigrants." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: It's worth noting that President Obama's executive action was materially different from Trump's fake national emergency. First, Obama did not declare a national emergency. Second, Obama's executive order had little or no spending impact; i.e., it didn't usurp Congress's "power of the purse." Third, it did directly overturn a Congressional action; rather, it made a substantial policy change that Congress itself could have enacted into law.

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Wow! Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Prosecutors said for the first time that they have evidence of Roger Stone communicating with WikiLeaks, according to a new court filing from special counsel prosecutors. During its investigation..., 'the government obtained and executed dozens of search warrants on various accounts used to facilitate the transfer of stolen documents for release, as well as to discuss the timing and promotion of their release,' the prosecutors wrote Friday to a federal judge. 'Several of those search warrants were executed on accounts that contained Stone's communications with Guccifer 2.0 and with Organization 1,' which is WikiLeaks. Previously, the prosecutors had only outlined how Stone attempted to get in touch with WikiLeaks' Julian Assange through intermediaries.... Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Friday denied Stone's attempt to get a new judge in his case, by alleging that his charges are unrelated to a case about the Russian hack of the Democrats. Prosecutors say they are indeed related, partly because they both hinge on some of the same search warrants." ...

     ... As Frank Figliuzzi noted on MSNBC, "This may be the closest we've come to actual evidence of collusion with Russians." (paraphrase, but close) Stone has claimed he never communicated with WikiLeaks or Guccifer 2.0.

... Katelyn Polantz: "A federal judge has placed a gag order on ... Roger Stone and attorneys involved in his criminal case, though Stone's ability to speak publicly isn't completely restricted. Lawyers 'for the parties and the witnesses must refrain from making statements to the media or in public settings that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case,' Judge Amy Berman Jackson wrote. They, their clients and even Stone are also not allowed to speak in and around the courthouse. In her order, Jackson notes how effective Stone has been in gaining followers, critics and media attention. She notes 'the size and vociferousness of the crowds that have already been attracted to these proceedings, and the risk that public pronouncements by the participants may inflame those gatherings.'"

Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Robert Mueller's office recommended on Friday that Paul Manafort get up to 24-and-a-half years in prison for his conviction last summer for financial malfeasance. The special counsel's suggestion is the opening move in what will be a two-step sentencing process for the 69-year-old former Trump campaign chairman, who appears to be on track to spend the rest of his life in prison absent a presidential pardon.... In their 27-page memo filed late Friday, Mueller's team signaled it would recommend a sentence from 19-and-a-half to 24-and-a-half years in prison for the Virginia case alone. They also recommended a fine between $50,000 and $24.4 million, supervised release of up to five years and forfeitures in the amount of more than $4.4 million.... The Mueller prosecutors described a series of crimes committed 'for no other reason than greed, evidencing his belief that the law does not apply to him.' They also made a clear reference to Manafort's time atop Trump's 2016 campaign, noting his 'repeated misrepresentations to financial institutions were brazen, at least some of which were made at a time when he was the subject of significant national attention.'... Both Democrats and Republicans have both warned the president against [pardoning Manafort]. But ... Trump ... asked his legal team to review pardon scenarios last summer during the Manafort trial and told the New York Post in a November interview that he 'wouldn't take it off the table.'"

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said on Friday that his panel received new documents showing that two attorneys for ... Donald Trump may have lied to government ethics officials about Trump fixer Michael Cohen's payments to women alleging affairs with the president ahead of the 2016 election. 'It now appears that President Trump's other attorneys --; at the White House and in private practice -- may have provided false information about these payments to federal officials,' Cummings (D-Md.) wrote in a letter to White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.... 'This raises significant questions about why some of the president's closest advisers made these false claims and the extent to which they too were acting at the direction of, or in coordination with, the president,' the chairman wrote.... Cummings named Sheri Dillon [private] and Stefan Passantino [White House] as the two attorneys who might have made false statements to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), citing documents the committee obtained from the office."

Pamela Brown & Alex Rogers of CNN: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has interviewed White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, she told CNN on Friday. 'The President urged me, like he has everyone in the administration, to fully cooperate with the special counsel. I was happy to voluntarily sit down with them,' Sanders said in response to a question from CNN. The interview is one of the final known interviews by Mueller's team. It came around the same time as the special counsel interviewed former White House chief of staff John Kelly, well after a number of other senior officials, including former White House communications director Hope Hicks and former press secretary Sean Spicer, were brought in for questioning. The White House did not immediately agree to grant the special counsel an interview with Sanders, according to one of the sources. Similarly, as CNN reported in December, White House lawyers initially objected to Mueller's request to interview Kelly, who ultimately responded to a narrow set of questions from special counsel investigators." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sanders' responses to investigators' questions included & were limited to, "I'll get back to you on that," and "I have no further information on that."

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will remain at the Justice Department despite William Barr's being sworn in to lead the department. Whitaker, who served as chief of staff to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions until ... Donald Trump tapped him for the acting role in November, is now a senior counselor in the associate attorney general's office, a department spokesperson said Friday.... The Office of the Associate Attorney General, whose titular role is currently filled on an acting basis, oversees civil justice, federal and local law enforcement, and public safety matters for DOJ." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Pete Williams of NBC News: "The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it will take up the battle over a citizenship question for the coming census, agreeing to hear and decide the case before the court's term ends in late June. Eighteen states, several of the nation's largest cities, and immigrant rights groups sued the government over its decision to ask about citizenship on the 2020 census form that goes to every U.S. household. They said the question would make immigrants reluctant to respond to census takers, resulting in an undercount of the population." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to the Supreme Court Friday for the first time since she underwent surgery in December, a court spokeswoman said. Ginsburg, 85, participated in a private conference with her colleagues as they considered which cases to accept for review or reject, said court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race 2020

Holly Ramer, et al., of the AP: "Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, little-known on the national stage but well-respected among veterans in the GOP establishment, announced an exploratory committee for president on Friday, becoming the first Republican to move toward a serious primary challenge against ... Donald Trump. There are new signs he won't be the last. In the immediate aftermath of the 73-year-old Weld's announcement at a breakfast event in New Hampshire, a senior aide for former Ohio Gov. John Kasich indicated Kasich is likely to launch a primary challenge as well.... [Aides to] Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ... acknowledge that the two-term Republican governor is openly considering a Trump challenge." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Ledes

New York Times: "Lee Radziwill, the free-spirited former princess who shared the qualities of wealth, social status and ambition with her older sister, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, but who struggled as an actor, decorator and writer to share her sister's aura of success, died on Friday at her home in Manhattan. She was 85."

Chicago Tribune: "Six people, including a gunman, died in a mass shooting at a manufacturing firm Friday afternoon, and five officers were struck by gunfire, officials said. Authorities confirmed the shooter, Gary Martin, 45, was killed in a shootout with police. Police said he was a 15-year veteran of Henry Pratt Co. in the industrial park in the Chicago suburb, and was getting fired Friday."