| | | | | President Trump speaks beside House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, Sunday. Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images | | | The Ex Keeps Talking: Ivana Trump says her former husband is "definitely not" a racist
North Korea is Downright Gleeful about "Fire and Fury": Country's main newspaper said the book is "humiliating" for Trump
Jeff Flake Preps Sequel to Senate Floor Speech: Some excerpts are already out | | | What the White House is Talking About:
"I am not a racist." This from President Trump to reporters last night in Palm Beach, in the wake of news about his "shithole/house" comments. Trump and first lady Melania Trump are scheduled to return to Washington this evening.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Wait, but is Trump a racist? And what did he actually say? The debate rages on.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day:
What Trump isn't talking about, at least as of 11 a.m. while I write this, is MLK Day, which most of the country is celebrating with remembrance. Melania tweeted the below about the day, a couple of hours after Ivanka Trump's MLK tweet, and a memory shared by press secretary Sarah Sanders. Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence went to the King memorial yesterday and laid a wreath in honor of the civil rights leader. The White House account did tweet a video clip of Trump talking about King in his weekly radio address.
So what is Trump doing today? Because last Friday, as he signed an MLK Day proclamation, he advised Americans to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Day, saying: "I will now sign the proclamation making January 15, 2018 the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday and encourage all Americans to observe this day with acts of civic work and community service in honor of Dr. King's extraordinary life -- and it was extraordinary indeed -- and his great legacy."
He's playing golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. It's his 95th day as president at a golf club that bears his name.
Our Daily Melania:
Here's Melania's tweet: | | Credit: @FLOTUS/Twitter
The first lady still hasn't said anything public about the "shithole" comment controversy (I asked), nor has she weighed in on Friday's bombshell from the Wall Street Journal that her husband's lawyer paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about a 2006 affair (I also asked). Although Melania (and Barron Trump) traveled to Mar-a-Lago with Trump on Friday for the long weekend, a CNN producer on the ground there told me the first lady has laid low, skipping the two dinners her husband had, one Saturday night with Rudy Giuliani, and one last night with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
I did learn yesterday that Melania will be accompanying her husband on his trip to Davos, Switzerland, later this month.
But the Ex Keeps Talking:
Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump, did comment, however, on whether her ex-husband is a racist, telling British morning talk show "Good Morning Britain" that he is "definitely not" one. Ivana says "sometimes [Trump] says things that are silly," tho. Ivana added she believes the President is "a stable genius," as he dubbed himself last week.
The Trump Fam, One Year In:
My colleague Betsy Klein did this awesome deep dive for today about the entire Trump family and what their year has been like. It's a good Monday read.
You Crazy Kids:
The outgoing Virginia governor, Terry McAuliffe, pranked the incoming governor, Ralph Northam, this weekend after Northam's inauguration, with these super-creeper pillowcases with McAuliffe's face on them and the words "Sleep When You're Dead." Haha...ha. McAuliffe pulled the ol' hidden alarm clock on Northam, too. "At 3 o'clock this morning, an alarm clock went off, which I have yet to find. I texted him and thanked him, and he said there was more to come." | | Credit: Gov. Ralph Northam
Melania Trump is Elizabeth Taylor:
I popped in a photo of a smiling Melania to the Google Arts & Culture app and got back this sad pic of Elizabeth Taylor. It kind of blew my mind. WHAT DOES GOOGLE KNOW? | | What Washington is Talking About:
The House and Senate are off for MLK Day, but with five days until a possible government shutdown, Repubs are looking at a short-term funding bill while Dems are considering the possibility of forcing a shutdown by withholding their votes unless something's done on DACA.
What America is Talking About:
Looking themselves up on the Google Arts & Culture app.
Poll of the Day:
A Gallup poll released Friday found 61% of Mormons approved of the job President Trump did in 2017, the highest percentage of any religious group. In 2016 I found Trump failed to win any of the 50 most Mormon counties' primaries or caucuses, but a majority of the members of the most conservative religion in America stand by the Repub president. It would have been interesting to see more Christian groups split off since the Protestant/Other Christian category is broad, encompassing all Christians who aren't Catholic or Mormon. | | Credit: Gallup
What the Trump White House Looks Like in the Google Arts & Culture App:
Because I know you were curious, I ran official portraits of Trump, Vice President Pence and first lady Melania Trump through the app. Amazing. | | Credit: Official White House Portraits, Google Arts & Culture
Condi: Kim Jong Un is "Clever," Trump's Tweets Won't Start a War:
Speaking to David Axelrod on "The Axe Files" Sunday, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Kim Jong Un is "turning out, much more so than I thought, to be actually pretty clever." She called his "approach to the South Koreans" and "decision to go to the Olympics" clever and said although she's "no fan" of Trump's tweets, "I think people would be mistaken to think that because the President has an ill-advised tweet, we're about to have nuclear war with the North Koreans." | | Credit: CNN
North Korea is Downright Gleeful About 'Fire and Fury':
The country's main newspaper said the popularity of Michael Wolff's book shows "rapidly surging anti-Trump sentiments in the international community" and claimed that the book is "humiliating" for Trump and a sign of his impending "political demise."
Jeff Flake Preps Sequel to Senate Floor Speech:
He's expected to give the speech this week, and in excerpts provided to CNN, the Arizona Repub compares Trump's characterization of the free press as an "enemy of the people" to Stalin's, who also used the phrase. Flake's remarks go on to say:
"Mr. President, it is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own President uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies. It bears noting that so fraught with malice was the phrase 'enemy of the people,' that even Nikita Khrushchev forbade its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that the phrase had been introduced by Stalin for the purpose of 'annihilating such individuals' who disagreed with the supreme leader. This alone should be a great shame for us in this body, especially for those of us in the President's party. For they are shameful, repulsive statements. And, of course, the President has it precisely backward -- despotism is the enemy of the people. The free press is the despot's enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy."
American Search Interest in Stormy Daniels Peaked Right After Work Friday:
Google interest in the US for "Stormy Daniels" peaked early Friday evening as Americans looked up the adult actress. Trump lawyer Michael Cohen provided statements from Trump that he "vehemently denies" the allegations, and from Daniels that her relationship with Trump was "nothing more" than a few public appearances. Claims that she was paid off were "completely false," she added. | | Credit: Google
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Employee Who Sent the Missile Alert Has Been Reassigned:
The employee clicked "Missile alert" instead of "Test missile alert" in a drop-down menu Saturday, setting off 38 minutes of panic that a missile was headed toward Hawaii. Spokesman Richard Rapoza told the Washington Post that the employee has been temporarily reassigned, and the agency is instituting a two-person verification process to send out the alerts.
Street Art Sighting:
Projection artist Robin Bell threw up the word "shithole" and the poop emoji onto the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., Saturday. Outrage over Trump's reported remark sent people to the hotel's Yelp page, where it dropped to two stars from its usual four- or five-star rating. | | Credit: Robin Bell/Periscope
If you spot political street art, I'd love to see it. Here's how you can reach me:
1. Tweet me @hunterschwarz
2. Tag me on Instagram @hunterschwarz
3. Email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com
The Right Tomi Link:
In Friday's issue, I linked to the wrong video of a Tomi Lehran Fox News segment. The correct link is here. | | | | | | |
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