Subject: Axios AM: Mike’s Top 10 — Bannon rising, How to win as a populist, Jason Miller’s new job
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2017 06:58:06 -0500 (EST)

Presented by BP:

Bannon's rare interview * Next week's chaos * Populist revolution 101

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Presented By BP

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Jan 27, 2017

​1 big thing: The Bannon coup

Andrew Harnik / AP

White House and Hill GOP leaders are astonished by the unambiguous, far-=eaching power of Steve Bannon and policy guru Stephen Miller over, well, j=st about everything:

They wrote the Inaugural speech and se= in fast motion a series of moves to cement Trump as an America-first Nati=nalist.

They maneuvered to get more key allies inside=the White House and positioned for top agency jobs.

T=ey wrote many of the executive orders, sometimes a phone interview with NYT's Mike Grynbaum, who cove=s media, TV, and politics (story is on A1): "The media should be embarrass=d and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while �=80� I want you to quote this … The media here is the opp=sition party. They don't understand this country. They still do n=t understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States."
<=l>
More Bannon: "The elite media got it dead wrong, 10= percent dead wrong … The mainstream media has not fired or termin=ted anyone associated with following our campaign … Look at the Tw=tter feeds of those people: They were outright activists of the Clinton ca=paign … That's why you have no power … You were humiliated="

Pre-conventional wisdom: A con=ervative leader told Axios' Jonathan Swan that Reince Priebus' people were=feeling like they "won November and December," having filled the White Hou=e with so many loyalists. The spin was that Reince was outmaneuvering Bann=n and would be the real power source. But now it's dawning on them, as Tru=p makes his early moves, that maybe they spoke too soon.

2. Next week: Supreme chaos

Democrats will almost certainly block Trump's Supreme Court nominee �=80� regardless of who it is, as payback for Republicans tanking Obama's =ick, Merrick Garland — and Republicans will almost certainly push =he nuclear-option button. This will set a new precedent of 50 votes for Su=reme Court confirmation, just like Republicans set the precedent that you =ow can refuse to fill a slot in a presidential election year.

<=i>Why this matters: Just when you thought it couldn't get=more divisive, Supreme Court fights are going to likely get nastier and mo=e partisan.

​3. Unpacking a global trend

Axios' Shane Savitsky posts a clever guide to l=unching a populist revolution, derived from the global data in Edelman's 2017 Trust Barometer, "Trust in Crisis":
<=p>

The ingredients: "An unequal economy … A disgruntled wor=ing class: No populism without the people. … An 'other': Be creati=e! Something to get the people going."

The echo chamber: "Twitter:=Your unfiltered thoughts, e.g. @realDonaldTrump. … The blogosphere=and social media: Find your Breitbart. Italy's Five Star Movement did. �=80� State-controlled media: If you have power, use it to your advantage =ike Poland's Law and Justice Party."

How to moderate =our message after you're branded as controversial: "[H]one in on what peop=e love more than anything: money."

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​4. Good gets: reporting tidbits

"Additional pending=[executive] orders … call for a review of cyber capabilities and v=lnerabilities, in advance of what is expected to be greater use of offensi=e powers," per WashPost's Karen DeYoung and Phil Rucker.

Kim Strass=l's "P=tomac Watch" column in the Wall Street Journal, picks up on conservati=e chatter about "A GOP Regulatory Game Changer: Legal experts say that Con=ress can [use the Congressional Review Act to] overrule Obama regulations =oing back to 2009."

The fallout: A Republican =ource tells us that conservative staff and think tanks are starting to loo= into the legality: "[I]t's a novel idea, but would be a game changer if t=ue. I think the procedural hurdles in the Senate might be messier than thi= piece states, but opens up all kinds of doors if it works."

​5. Trump v. Globalism, Act 3

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

The White House didn't exactly seem broken-hearted when Mexican Presiden= Enrique Peno Nieto yesterday announced that because of the border-wall pr=vocation, he was canceling next week's trip to Washington. Trump had tweet=d shortly before the announcement: "If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the =adly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting."=br>

The White House then floated a new payment mechanism as part of =hat AP branded Trump's "Chaotic Day." Axios' Ste= Kight narrates: "After mentioning a 20% border tax for Mexico and the= claiming it wasn't an actual policy proposal, WH press secretary Sean Spi=er told reporters the plans to pay for the wall are still in the works. BU= an import tax was the best plan. He added that any country the U.S. has a=deficit with would be taxed, and claimed a 20% tax would bring in $10 bill=on, which would 'easily pay for the wall.'"

The conseq=ences: Conservatives now fear an unneeded trade war. In a WSJ editorial =itled, "Trump's Little Mexican War: The President is treating our neighbor=like Obama treated Israel," the conservative editorial page says: "Trump f=ncies himself a negotiating wizard, but in this case he is out-negotiating=himself."

Trump v. Globalism, Act 4 … Bloomberg)

Why this matters: "The =all between the leaders of the world's No. 1 and No. 3 exporters suggests =lobal battle lines are being drawn over free trade just as Trump scraps a =ong-negotiated trade pact with Pacific nations and escalates protectionist=rhetorics."

6. Trumpisms ...

… from last night's interview with Fox's Sean Hannity:

On "Saturday Night Live": "It's a failing show; it's not=funny. Alec Baldwin's a disaster. He's terrible on the show. And by the wa=: I don't mind some humor. But it's terrible."

Giving a to=r of the Oval: "And look at my desk: Papers! You don't see presid=nts with papers on that desk"

On using Reagan=s desk: "[Y]ou can pick. They have like seven desks."

On the White House phones: "I have great phones,=I have phones -- let me tell you. The technology that we have in this coun=ry is incredible. Unfortunately perhaps we don't use it.

On the president in his lifetime he admires most: "Wel=, I like Reagan. I didn't like him on trade. But other than trade, I liked=him very much and he was OK on trade. But not great."

On the letter Obama left him: "What amazed me is that I w=s vicious to him in statements, he was vicious to me in statements, and he=e we are getting along, we're riding up Pennsylvania Avenue talk -- we don=t even mention it. I guess that's the world of politics.

On how this whole experience has changed him: "I don't=think I've had the time to be changed because I'm cutting the prices of ai=planes, I'm cutting the prices of army tanks."

Trump's last words in the interview: "The ratings tonight are go=ng to be through the roof."

=img width="32" height="32" style="border: none" target="_blank" sr=="https://static.axios.com/img-email/twitter-circle.png" alt="Tweet th=s Story">

7. Tracking power

Jason Miller, senior communications adviser of the=Trump campaign and communications director for the transition, will join T=neo Strategy next week, advising Fortune 500 CEOs on crisis communications= corporate communications and media relations. Miller, who has sold his in=erest in Jamestown Associates, will be based in D.C. He was supposed to be=Trump's White House communications director, but quit abruptly before Chri=tmas. Teneo, which made its name thanks to its close relationship to Bill =linton, is clearly adapting for a Trump-run world.

The ne=t #NeverTrump battle? Key players oppose border adjustment tax: A=transition source following the border-adjustment fight notes that opponen=s of the House Republican plan have aligned with key figures from the Neve= Trump movement. Katie Packer, a top Romney official who was a key voice o= #NeverTrump, tweeted this week: "This tax will hurt families trying to ma=e ends meet. @GroverNorquist should not ignore that."
The border-adjustment fight pits major American manufacturers, championed b= Trump during the campaign, against major retailers. Manufacturers are see=ing reform they believe will help them grow again; retailers would face pr=ce hikes on foreign imports.

Al Gore saves the C=C's canceled climate change conference in Atlanta next month: WashPost's <= href="http://link.axios.com/click/8713919.29385/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2FzaGl=Z3RvbnBvc3QuY29tL25ld3MvZW5lcmd5LWVudmlyb25tZW50L3dwLzIwMTcvMDEvMjYvY2Rjcy=jYW5jZWxlZC1jbGltYXRlLWNoYW5nZS1jb25mZXJlbmNlLWlzLWJhY2stb24tdGhhbmtzLXRvL=FsLWdvcmU_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX2NhbXBh=WduPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXJfYXhpb3NhbQ/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cB91d30117" target==_blank">Brady Dennis quotes Georges Benjamin, executive director of th= American Public Health Association: "He called me and we talked about it =nd we said, 'There's still a void and still a need.' We said, 'Let's make =his thing happen'" — without federal backing.

8. Facebook pushes longer videos

Recode's Peter Kafka reports that Facebook "is going to=start rewarding video makers who create longer clips. ... [I]t is tweaking=its News Feed algorithm to emphasize longer videos that are able to retain=their audience; the longer they hold them, the more likely Facebook is to =romote them."

The trend: "This is part of a br=ader move Facebook has been making to emphasize 'watch time' — a m=tric that its rivals at YouTube have long championed."

The=big goal: [T]he obvious goal here is to take attention, and ultim=tely ad dollars, from television."

The grand plan ... Axios' Sara Fischer points out that in this evolution, incentivizing Facebook=Live partners to make live videos longer by algorithmically favoring video= at least 10 minutes long.

9. More robots for Amazon

Amazon has been granted a patent for a robot to pack shipping boxes that=are now filled by humans, per Axios' David McCabe.

Why =his matters: Policymakers are trying to understand the impact tha= increased automation will have on jobs. Researchers associated with McKin=ey found recently that' "scenarios suggest that half of today's work activ=ties could be automated by 2055" but that only a small percentage of jobs =ould be fully automated.

Check out ... this =mazon graphic.

10. 2 fun things

Vanity Fair's "Wonder Women" cover shoot: "The 11 actresses who posed fo= Annie Leibovitz for 2017's Hollywood Portfolio have riveted moviegoers th=s year, in a stunning range of cinematic styles."

WSJ A-He=, "Alexa, Stop Making Life =iserable for Anyone With a Similar Name!": "Apple Inc. picked 'Siri' [=s the name for its artificial-intelligence personal assistant] … A=azon.com Inc.'s choice … was the 39th most popular girl's name in =he U.S. in 2006. That means in some homes the plan has backfired."

HAPPY FRIDAY, and have a great weekend. THAN= YOU for your rants, tips, links and leaks: Just reply to this em=il. This is my real/only e-dress, and no one else sees it.

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