| | | | A(nother) historic week for Donald Trump | | The past three weeks have been a microcosm of Donald Trump's presidency.
Two weeks ago, Trump traveled to Singapore to meet with Kim Jong Un -- making history as the first American president to sit down with a North Korean leader. Last week was an utter disaster for Trump, as he and his administration bungled the handling of a self-generated family separation crisis along the southern border.
Then came this week.
First on Tuesday, the Supreme Court upheld Trump's travel ban -- a signature pledgel from the 2016 campaign trail that will curtail who can enter the United States from seven countries. Roughly 24 hours later came an even bigger bombshell: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he was retiring, providing Trump a chance to appoint his second Supreme Court justice in only his first 18 months in office.
Senate Democrats quickly leapt into action, demanding that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell postpone any confirmation hearings until after the election. But rhetoric aside, Democrats can't do anything to stop the confirmation of Trump's pick prior to the 2018 midterms. (The only people who can stop it are moderate Republicans like Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski.)
On this Friday night, Trump can now claim: a massive tax cut, a historic summit with North Korea and the chance to pick at least two Supreme Court justices. That's a remarkable legacy for a president this early in his term. While the prospect of what Trump will do with the opportunities he has been handed strike fear in the hearts of Democrats, even they can't take away the remarkable chance this week hands Trump to bend the course of the country and the culture in a more conservative direction.
Below, the 26 major Trump-related headlines of the week that was.
-- Chris
Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday: | | "This is an exaggeration. The President has been clear with us and with others. He has concerns about the WTO. He thinks there's aspects of it that are not fair. He thinks that China and others have used it to their own advantage."
-Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin pushing back against Axios' report that President Donald Trump has been privately suggesting that he wants the US to withdraw from the World Trade Organization. | | | NO IMMIGRATION SOLUTION AS CONGRESS LEAVES TOWN | | Happy almost Fourth of July. CNN's Lauren Fox reported Friday that "lawmakers have left Washington this week without passing a single bill to address what has been a months-long saga for parents and children who have been separated despite calls from all sides of the political spectrum to act.
"In the House, Republicans tried and failed to pass a comprehensive immigration bill that addressed family separations as well as provided $25 billion in border security and a path to citizenship for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The bill earned only 121 votes, far fewer than a more conservative proposal that had been voted on earlier in June (that bill also failed)."
One GOP leadership aide said: "The White House has said Congress needs to solve this problem, yet they have been completely unclear and inconsistent on what it is they would or wouldn't be willing to support. It's a useless exercise to have our members vote on something the President might not sign.'" Read more in Lauren's full story here. | | For the love of the local newspaper, via The Atlantic's John Temple. (You should also read today's edition of the Capital Gazette newspaper, which published even in wake of fatalities in its own newsroom).
The Los Angeles Times put together stories about the sounds of protest: Political music in the age of Trump.
NY Mag's Jonah Shepp writes in Trump's Russia Summit, Putin Holds All the Cards.
At 98, the Army Just Made Him an Officer: A Tale of Racial Bias in World War II, via The New York Times.
The Washington Post did a feature on the Fireworks King. | | | The Backstreet Boys stopped by "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Thursday and performed "I Want It That Way" on classroom instruments with Fallon and The Roots. Watch here. | | TRUMP RESPONDS TO MARYLAND SHOOTING | | From CNN's Kevin Liptak: President Donald Trump said a shooting in Annapolis, Maryland, on Thursday "shocked the conscience of our nation and filled our hearts with grief."
"Journalists, like all Americans, should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their job," Trump said at a tax event in the East Room. Trump said his administration would continue working to prevent violence. Read more in the full story here.
His statement comes a day after five people were killed in a shooting inside the newsroom at the Capital Gazette newspaper office in Annapolis. They were all employees of the newspaper. A fundraiser for the victims had already raised more than $128,000 by Friday afternoon on philanthropy-minded GoFundMe.com, and the donations keep pouring in.
You can read more of CNN's reporting here. | | Former President Barack Obama was in Los Angeles on Thursday, headlining a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. CNN's Dan Merica writes: "Obama had a message for troubled Democrats: Do more than just mope."
"'If what you are doing requires no sacrifice at all, then you can do more,' Obama told the tony crowd at a sweeping multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills home. 'If you are one of these folks who is watching cable news at your cocktail parties with your friends and you are saying "civilization is collapsing" and you are nervous and worried, but that is not where you are putting all your time, energy and money, then either you don't actually think civilization is collapsing ... or you are not pushing yourself hard enough and I would push harder.'" (Read more in Dan's story here).
As Chris writes: "Obama is still the Democrats' best messenger. That 'tough love' message is one only someone in Obama's very unique position can deliver. None of the dozens -- and I mean dozens -- of 2020 Democratic aspirants would scold the party to stop feeling sorry for itself, to stop just getting angry at Trump and to get off their asses and do something. They'd be too afraid of alienating some or all of the party base by urging them to do more. And aside from Obama, there's simply no one from the party's past -- see above on the Clintons -- who can deliver that message either." (Read Chris' full analysis here). | | THE SHUFFLE TO FIND A NEW SCOTUS JUSTICE | | Since Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement announcement, President Donald Trump has been busy searching for a replacement to nominate.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported Thursday afternoon that "Trump met with key senators at the White House on Thursday as the administration goes into a full-court press to nominate and confirm a new Supreme Court justice before the midterm elections next fall. The White House plans to nominate a new justice by July 9. Kennedy announced he'll retire on July 31."
Meanwhile, CNN's Clare Foran reported "some abortion opponents hope that Roe v. Wade will end up overturned or gutted -- and they have already been working towards that moment Over the past year, state legislatures in Iowa, Louisiana and Mississippi have advanced strict limits on abortion that some lawmakers believe could trigger a successful challenge to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide." Read more here. | | | From Brenna: "Do you ever stop in the middle of telling a friend something to say something to someone else? So does President Trump. Today he was celebrating six months since the tax cuts." As always, thanks for reading -- and happy Friday! Please tell people you know to subscribe 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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