Subject: ?Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — Signs unicorn boom may fizzle — Snap founder's disappearing $2 billion — Trump tweet on China surprises his SecState as he heads to China — Ryan calls Trump "a great closer" — 3 new Monopoly pieces
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2017 10:16:08 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by Qualcomm:

Signs unicorn boom may fizzle — Snap founder's disappearing $2 =illion — Trump tweet on China surprises his SecState as he heads =o China — Ryan calls Trump "a great closer" — 3 new Monopo=y pieces

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Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Mar 18, 2017

1 big thing: Finally paying a price

Someday, that'll catch up to you, young man.

Until now, Trump and his team have been able to lob claims wit= impunity or even to advantage — distracting the opposition and m=dia, or adding to the rogue image that enthralls his voters.

But Trump's unwillingness to back off his wiretapping tweet =two weeks ago today!) is exacerbating differences with allies abroad and e=asperating allies on the Hill, while heightening the risk of embarrassment=when investigations are complete.

The tipping point may be the White House sugg=stion that British spies were involved in surveilling Trump Tower �=80� with the White House citing a Fox News commentary when ev=n Fox says, via Shep Smith:

"Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now-presiden= of the United States was surveilled at any time, any way. Full stop."=(Video)
The lead of today's N.Y. Times say= British officials are "livid."

Sean Spicer told re=orters during a brief gaggle in the East Room: "I don't think we regret an=thing. We literally listed a litany of media reports that are in the publi= domain."

BREAKING ... Trum= tweets from Mar-a-Lago this morning:

"Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had=a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, German= owes..... ...vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be p=id more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germa=y!"

2. Bite of the day

Donna Brazile on TIME.com, re passing potential CNN town-hall topics =o the Clinton campaign: "[S]ending those emails was a mistake I will forev=r regret."

=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">

3. Must-read window into Valley culture

Cover of tomorrow's N.Y. Times Business section, "Steppi=g In at Uber ... In Silicon Valley, a Voice of Caution Scolds a High-F=ying Uber: The venture capitalist Bill Gurley is a rare figure in Silicon =alley, vocally chiding some of the biggest start-up stars to show some dis=ipline," by Katie Benner:

"Gurley, 50, didn't=respond to requests for comment on Uber. In one of three interviews last y=ar, he said of his warnings for start-ups that ... 'the longer bad behavio= goes on, the worse things end up.'"

"Hurley ... cuts a distinctive figure in Silicon Valley in no small part because of his=lanky 6-foot-9 frame."

"For more than 20 years, M=. Gurley has maintained a personal blog, called Above the Crowd, a reference to both his height and his point of view."

"Since 2014, the blog has tended to contain more caut=onary notes about start-up behavior. In one post in 2015, as investors were pouring money into wh=t became known as 'unicorn' companies — venture-backed companies v=lued at more than $1 billion — Mr. Gurley wrote, 'We are in a risk=bubble.'"

"Last year, he wrote that there would b= 'inevitable failed u=icorns.'"

"Among Mr. Gurley's main concerns are Silicon Valley'= growing self-importance, which he has said is expertly captured in [HBO's=] 'Silicon Valley' ... 'The Valley reeks of entitlement,' he said in an in=erview last year. 'It's bad for the industry.'"

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5G will revolutionize industr=es–and help change the way we live, work and relate to each ot=er–by enabling millions of devices to intelligently connect in way= never before imagined. And like 3G and 4G, it will be brought to you by Q=alcomm.

4. The talk of tech

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks at the Economic Summit during the China Develo=ment Forum in Beijing today / Chinatopix via AP

Apple CEO Tim Cook sounds like the anti-Trump in a rare public speech in Beijing today. Per WSJ'= Eva Dou, Cook said globalization "in general is great for the world." He =cknowledged gains aren't evenly distributed within countries, but cautione= against countries retreating from globalization as a response:

"I think the worst thing would b= to — because it didn't help everyone — is to say it's bad=and do less of that ... I think the reality is you can see that countries =n the world … that isolate themselves, it's not good for their peo=le."

The Guardian's Olivia Solon in S.F. ... "Has t=e tech bubble peaked? Signs that the startup boom may be fizzling: Startup= are beginning to run out of money":

"A stream of 'down rounds' – when a company raises funds by selling share= that are valued lower than the last time they raised funds, leading its o=erall valuation to fall – has led investors to be more discerning.=CB Insights has tracked more than 100 of these down rounds and exits since=2015, including software company Zenefits, mobile app Foursquare and onlin= music streaming service Rdio. 'It used to be that 95% of [investment] rou=ds were up, now 20% are down.'"

"Then there are t=e so-called 'decacorns' – unicorn startups valued at tens of billi=ns of dollars – such as Airbnb, Uber and Palantir – which =ome believe are overvalued, but it's hard to tell until they go public and=are forced to reveal details of their underlying finances."

"Evan Spiegel has lost $2 billion since Snapchat's post-I.P.=. peak: Snap stock falls, Spiegel's massive fortune is slowly evaporating.= (Vanity Fair Hive's Maya Kosoff)

5. The "Silent Secretary" speaks

SecState Rex Tillerson (left) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at t=e end of a joint press conference following their meeting today at the Dia=yutai State Guesthouse in Beijing / Mark Schiefelbein, Pool via AP

SecState Rex Tillerson, en route to Beijing — i= an interview with IJ='s Erin McPike, the sole reporter board his plane for his Asia swing =E2�� re Trum='s tweet yesterday morning that "North Korea is behaving very badly. T=ey have been 'playing' the United States for years. China has done little =o help!"

"I did not know that he was going to tweet anything out, but the message that he sent ou= is very consistent with the message that I've been delivering so far in T=kyo and in Seoul. And I don't think it will come as any surprise to the Ch=nese government that we do not view that they have ever fully used all of =he influence available to them to cause the North Korean regime to rethink=its pursuit of these weapons, and that's some of what I'll be talking with=the Chinese government about."

Justin Green has les highlight=.

6. Trump's chilly Merkel meeting

Leaders of the West ... German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Tr=mp walk down Cross Hall before presser in East Room / AP's Pablo Martinez =onsivais)

President Trump pushed German Chancellor Angela Merkel =ery hard on NATO during their closed-doors meeting, Axios' Jonathan Swan reports:

=Trump said Germany has accumulated an immense lack of investment =ver many years, according to one of our sources, telling Merkel the U.S. f=els taken advantage of for spending so much on defense while its allies ha=e benefited without their own degrees of contribution."

Dail= Beast's Eleanor Clift: "Trump appeared impatient and restless as he stood at the podium, and t=ok offense at the questions posed by German reporters."

"'Nice friendly reporter,' Trump quip=ed to laughter from the friend and family section to his left, where Vice =resident Pence sat with Reince Priebus ... Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner and=Ivanka Trump."

"The Axis Of Awkward: When Merkel Me= Trump," by NPR chief international editor William Dobson: "Merkel is prag=atic, a committed internationalist and the unquestioned champion of the EU= ... [W]hether these polar opposites can collaborate may be the single big=est factor in determining the future of the trans-Atlantic partnership."
UNLESS she loses reelect=on Sept. 24, as some in the White House expect.

7. Behind the scenes

AP's Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Entering from the Cross Hall, how the East Room looks to the President .=.

Jamie Rubin, assistant secretary of State under Bill Clinton, burns for Politico M=g: "The Leader of the Free World Meets Donald Trump."

8. Hill zeitgeist

Shot ... N.Y. Times Quote of the Day — Rep. Ch=rlie Dent, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania, on sentiment that the =egislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is headed for def=at in the Senate: "If I hear one more senator tell me that this bill is de=d on arrival, I think my head is going to explode."

Chaser .=. Speaker Ryan to Rich Lowry yesterday =t National Review Institute's Ideas Summit: "The president has been a grea= closer on this."

WSJ front page, "Key Bloc of Conservative Lawmakers Endorse GOP Health=Plan": "The president said that his administration had worked overnight to=persuade figures such as Rep. Mark Walker (R., N.C.), who leads the 170-me=ber [Republican Study Committee], to back the House bill after agreeing to=... more stringent curbs on funding for Medicaid, as well as work requirem=nts for its low-income beneficiaries."

Speaker's office tell= reporters: "The framework remains intact. Discussions with membe=s of the conference continue about other potential small modifications as =he legislative process continues."

9. What Wall Street is reading

The cover of Barron's, "Why the Border Adjustment Tax S=ould Be Killed: The BAT is a bad idea. There are far better ways to shrink=the federal budget deficit," by Gene Epstein:

"The pro=osed border adjustment tax is so complicated that even its advoca=es can't agree on how its disruptive effects on the U.S. economy will play=out, and there's nothing to love about that. ...

"There a=e ... better ways to slash the fiscal deficit by $100 billion a y=ar than [Ryan's] Better Way plan, and most fall under the heading of spend=ng cuts."

Behind paywall,=/strong> but Barron's has provided a free =ink for Axios AM readers.

10. 1 fun thing: 3 new Monopoly pieces

The three new Monopoly tokens / AP's Wayne Parry

"Boot, wheelbarrow, thimble ousted from Monopoly," by <= href="http://link.axios.com/click/9179511.38058/aHR0cDovL2JpZ3N0b3J5LmF=Lm9yZy9hcnRpY2xlLzYyZDc4ZmFiZmY3YTQ0NGQ5YWMyNGI2YzgwMjQwNzAzL2Jvb3Qtd2hlZW=iYXJyb3ctdGhpbWJsZS1vdXN0ZWQtbW9ub3BvbHktYm9hcmQtZ2FtZT91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld=NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc2Ft=5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cB91fe6ef9" target="_blank">AP's Wayne Parry =n Atlantic City: "In their place [in new editions on sale this fall] will =e a Tyrannosaurus rex, a penguin and a rubber ducky. More than 4.3 million=voters from 146 countries weighed in on which tokens they wanted to see in=future versions."

"There were 64 contenders, i=cluding a winking emoji, a hashtag, a clunky '80s-style cellphone and a pa=r of bunny slippers."

"The existing Scottish Terr=er, battleship, racecar, top hat and cat tokens will carry on."

"The original 10 tokens [in 1935] were an iron,=purse, lantern, racecar, thimble, shoe, top hat, battleship, cannon and a =ocking horse."

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Qualcomm inventions helped launch the mobile revolution and can be found=in billions of devices around the world, from smartphones and tablets, to =ameras and cars. They remain relentless in their pursuit of the next big t=ing, to make people more connected, to make a difference in everyday life.=Learn more.

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