| | | | Trump's hypocrisy, in 1 answer | | On Tuesday afternoon, President Donald Trump -- with South Korean President Moon Jae-in sitting next to him -- spent more than 30 minutes answering questions from reporters.
Or, more accurately, answering the questions he wanted to answer from reporters.
So when Trump was asked about his Monday meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray to discuss allegations that the FBI may have used an "informant" in his 2016 presidential campaign, the President was more than happy to opine away.
"If they had spies in my campaign that would be a disgrace to this country," Trump said. "It would be very illegal."
Then ABC's Karen Travers asked Trump whether he still had confidence in Rosenstein. Here's the exchange:
TRAVERS: "Mr. President, do you have confidence in Rod Rosenstein?"
TRUMP: "What's your next question, please? Excuse me, I have the President of South Korea here, OK? He doesn't want to hear these questions, if you don't mind."
Sooo...
The South Korean President was totally cool with Trump talking about his meeting with Rosenstein and Wray but was deeply bothered by a question about whether the President has confidence in Rosenstein?
Of course, he wasn't. The only difference here is that Trump wanted to talk about the rumors of a confidential source embedded in his presidential campaign and had no interest in addressing whether or not he might get rid of the man in charge of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling.
The Point: This is hypocrisy, pure and simple. Trump always touts how open he is with the press. But when you ignore a question and try to shame a reporter for asking it simply because you don't want to answer it, that's not transparency -- or anything close to it.
--Chris | | "I mean it's Paul Ryan. He's not a salty guy. I think he said 'gee wiz' and 'gosh' and he used the word 'crap' once. For Paul Ryan, 'crap' is pretty blue language."
- Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican from Nevada, re: House Speaker Paul Ryan Ryan's comments during a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday | | | | The Point's Brenna Williams writes: "It seems like the entire Cabinet is on track to get some sort of attention this week. Yesterday, it was Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talking about "crushing" Iran; Vice President Mike Pence talking about North Korea and Libya; and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross talking about trade talks with China. On deck today: There's no "I" in team (but there is one in Cabinet)." | | SPOTTED: A SINKHOLE ... AT THE WH | | Two small sinkholes have developed on the world famous North Lawn of the White House. CNN's Betsy Klein reports "Two holes are merged into one slightly larger one…about a foot long. It's located along a fence near the White House press briefing room, between the West Wing and the Residence. It is taped off with orange cones around it."
CNN's Kevin Liptak noted it's an area that has always had issues -- and it's been graded and regraded a few times over the last few years. Read more in CNN's story here. | | The Globe's Annie Linskey on how Trump staffers sometime write his tweets -- and how they make spelling errors and use bad grammar on purpose
Meet Elliott Broidy!
The Cook Political Report's David Wasserman sees some good news for Republicans in the House fight
An amazing New York Times interactive on where Kyle Lowry, Ben Simmons and Draymond Green learned to play basketball
Season 5 of "Arrested Development" is good! | | INTERIOR DEPARTMENT'S PROPOSITION TO ALASKAN HUNTERS | | CNN's Eli Watkins reports: "The Interior Department moved this week to end an Obama administration ban on hunting black bears in Alaska with bait, artificial light and dogs, along with other hunting practices in the state.
"The proposal from the National Park Service, published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, took issue with protections for black bears, 'including cubs and sows with cubs,' as well as wolves and coyotes, including their pups, from 'harvest practices that are otherwise permitted by the State of Alaska.' The 2015 rule now targeted by the National Park Service also prohibited using dogs to hunt black bears and using motorboats to hunt swimming caribou."
Read more in CNN's story here. | | 🚨 ANOTHER TUESDAY ELECTION NIGHT 🚨 | | Midterm primaries continue with elections in Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia and Texas. CNN's Wade Payson-Denney has a round-up of what you need to know: - Polls in Georgia close at 7 p.m. ET, and in Arkansas at 8:30 p.m. ET.
- Polls in Kentucky are open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. Most of the state is in Eastern Time, but counties in the Central Time zone close at 7 p.m. ET.
- All polls in Texas close by 9 p.m. ET. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. Most of the state is in Central, but El Paso is in the Mountain time zone.
- Georgia's GOP gubernatorial primary mirrors previous 2018 Republican statewide primaries, further showing President Donald Trump's firm grip on the Republican Party. Georgia Democrats will choose between rising star Stacey Abrams, who could become the first female African-American governor, and former state Rep. Stacey Evans.
- CNN's headline on Kentucky says it all: "Democratic House primary in Kentucky pits openly gay mayor against female fighter pilot"
- In Texas, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee faces another test between its preferred candidate and a more progressive upstart.
- Arkansas Democrats hope state Rep. Clarke Tucker emerges as the challenger to GOP Rep. French Hill, and can put Republicans on defense in a state that voted for Trump by over 25 points in 2016.
Read more in his full story here. | | Washington, DC (not the Hill or the White House, though):
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is a new mom! The Democrat -- currently running for re-election -- announced today that she has adopted a child. Bowser makes history as the first single mother to run the city. Just a reminder that moms are superheroes. | | | From Brenna: "South Korean President Moon visited the White House today. Trump gave him the greeting I give friends when I run into them on the street. Except when I run into my friends, I have 100% of the time gotten rained on or spilled coffee on myself and Trump looks like the President. So he wins." Tell your friends to greet us virtually by subscribing to The Point. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | | | | |
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