Subject: ?Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — Scoop: BuzzFeed going public in 2018 ?? — Trump's Russian salad dressing — Kushner as Kissinger
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2017 06:25:08 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by Bank of America:

Scoop: BuzzFeed going public in 2018 🤔 — Trump's Ru=sian salad dressing — Kushner as Kissinger

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Presented By Bank of America

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Mar 29, 2017

1 big thing: BuzzFeed going public in 2018

GIPHY

Scoop: With the spotlight on Snap's IPO, viral powerhou=e BuzzFeed is quietly making preparations to go public in=2018, industry sources tell me. OMG!

The =idely (and poorly) copied BuzzFeed — which be=an as a "great cat site<=a>" and now has foreign correspondents, an ambitious news operation led by=Ben Smith, and a massive BuzzFeed Motion Pictures studio in L.A. —=mastered the art of sharable content and became a defining brand of the In=ernet age.

The pitch: BuzzFeed, with=news and entertainment divisions, styles itself as a =edia-tech company with "the innovation obsessed culture and structure of a=venture-backed tech company": "We are best known for exploding watermelons= The Dress, Tasty, award-winning news investigations, quizzes, and lists."=/li>
The strategy: BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti has turn=d down past offers from media companies.

Peers: T=e Big Four of modern digital content companies are BuzzFeed, Vox, Vice and=Group Nine Media (millennial-focused online publishers Thrillist, NowThis,=The Dodo and Seeker).

All have partnered with traditional media companies: NBC invested in BuzzFeed and Vo= (and is an investor in Axios), Disney invested in Vice, and Discovery inv=sted in Group Nine.

"Vice wants to sell," a top i=dustry source said.

What we're watching: Quartz =E2�� an Atlantic Media property which, rumor has it, almost sold to Ja=an's Nikkei a while back — also looks like it might be spiffing up=for a possible buyer. Crain's reported this week that the site, designed for the =lobal business class, has turned a profit, earning $1 million in 2016 reve=ue of $30 million. There have been lots of stories about its financial per=ormance and potential of late — and all seem aimed at attracting p=ssible suitors.

2. Reality check on Zombie Trumpcare

Rebecca Zisser / Axios

How seriously should we take House Republicans' talk th=t they're not giving up on Obamacare repeal, and will keep working until t=ey have enough votes to pass it? Axios' David Nather says it's true =hey'd like to do it, but it's "more likely after Republicans have=all taken a break from each other":

Conservatives have been giving leaders an earful since this weekend: How can you just=drop the issue that you've run on in four elections, without even a vote? =/li>
House Republicans had a meeting yesterday, filled=with talk about how they don't want to give up on repeal. Even President T=ump used some happy talk on senators at the White House last night: "I kno= that we are all going to make a deal on health care. That's such =n easy one."

One GOP aide's read: "You g=tta have a plan to go to the floor. That doesn't exist right now. I think =t's revisit it later — the reconciliation vehicle is still viable,=would be terrible to let that thing go to waste."

3. Kushner as Kissinger

Reuters' Kevin Lamarque

David Ignatius, in his WashPost colu=n today, has a memorable description of Jared Kusher — husband=of Ivanka, and POTUS' son-in-law and senior adviser:

Kushner is apprenticing for the role of Trump's Henry Kis=inger. He's the secret emissary, the evaluator of talent, the whisperer of=confidential advice. He's the only person in this White House who Trump ca='t fire, really. All these qualities strike me as beneficial, so long as K=shner uses them to make Trump a better president who learns how to comprom=se and govern.

"Kushner, taking new White House role, faces rare scrutiny," by AP'= Jonathan Lemire:

"He has been deeply involved with presidential staffing and has played the role of shadow diplomat= advising on relations with [China,] the Middle East, Canada and Mexico."<=li>
"[In a] White House whose power matrix is constant=y in flux ... Kushner has been closely allied with senior counselor Dina P=well and National Economic Council director Gary Cohn."

Hope Hicks, Trump's longtime spokeswoman: "Jared is a v=sionary with an endless appetite for strategic, inventive solutions that w=ll improve quality of life for all Americans."

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4. You'll hear this again

Sean Spicer to April Ryan, at yesterday's briefing: I get it. But you keep — I've=said it from the day that I got here until whatever that there is no conne=tion. You've got Russia. If the President puts Russian salad dress=ng on his salad tonight, somehow that's a Russian connection. ...= I appreciate your agenda here. (Video)=/em>

CNN's Dylan Byers reminds us of a denia= by Trump in a Jan. 11 presser in New York: "I have no =ealings with Russia. I have no deals that could happen in Russia, because =e've stayed away. And I have no loans with Russia. ... I have no loans, no=dealings, and no current pending deals."

And at Trump's wild East W=ng presser on Feb. 16, he said: "I own nothing in Russia. I have no lo=ns in Russia. I don't have any deals in Russia."

5. The new Declaration of Independence

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, in the cabinet of=ice, signs the official letter invoking Article 50 / Pool via Reuters

British Prime Minister triggers Brexit — BBC: =/p>

British Prime Minister "Theresa May has signed=the letter that will formally begin the UK's departure from the European U=ion. Giving official notice under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, it will=be delivered to European Council president Donald Tusk."

"=n a statement in the Commons, the prime minister will then tell [=embers of Parliament] this marks 'the moment for the country to come toget=er.'"

End game: The process is likel= to be complete in March 2019.

6. Big trends: Europe's miraculous recovery

Europe's blue-chip stock index is officially outperforming=the U.S., Axios' Chris Matthews reports from New York:

This fa=t highlights how underrated the European economic recovery has been as a f=ctor in the post-election surge in economic confidence, as the whole of th= European Union is the U.S.'s largest trading partner.

Why=Europe is booming: The European Central Bank has reduced European=sovereign debt loads, which has boosted confidence and the economy.
Score one for the bureaucracy: The jury is =till out, but it's plausible that in 10 years, both the ECB and the Federa= Reserve will be credited for dragging the world out of the Great Recessio=, while parliaments and congresses bickered. In this age of democr=tic populism, it might the unelected bureaucrats who deserve our thanks.

7. Tweet du jour

Hat tip: Josh Deckard (@jsdeckard) ...

8. Trump's America

States in green have shown upticks in manufacturing employment and build=ng permits, and declines in bankruptcy filings, since Jan. 1.

First look ... Forbes launches The American Dream Index, using seven indicators of economi= health "to track on a state-by-state monthly basis whether President Trum= is Making America Great." The debut rankings:

Best off:

1) Nevada
2) Tennessee

3) Florida

4) Arkansas

5) Georgia

Worst off:
50) Alaska

49) Hawaii

48) Connecticut

47) Il=inois

46) Kansas

Washington state ranks 15th,=/strong> Pennsylvania 16th, Texas 19th, California 26th, Michigan 27th, Wi=consin 29th, Virginia 30th, Maryland 31st, Ohio 32nd, New York 41st and Ne= Jersey 45th.

9. An iconic Dem firm adapts to GOP rule

Heather Podesta tells=me she got the idea for her lobbying firm's new name from the archbishop, =hile she was watching "The Crown" on Neflix. In a move meant to reflect an=expanding bipartisan team at the once-Democratic firm, Heather Pod=sta + Partners today changes its name to Inva=iant:

The name connotes something=constant you can rely on. Podesta, who leads a team of 16, plus interns, s=id of the change: "The firm isn't about me. We're a very different firm no=."

Heather Podesta does government relations for = number of California companies, and was an early Washington voice for new=brands like Snapchat, SpaceX and FitBit.

The history: "Heather Podesta founded her eponymous firm in 2007 with one employee.=Today, Invariant is the largest independent, woman-owned lobbying firm in =he country."

What's ahead: The firm =s in hiring mode, planning to add big names.

10. 1 fun thing

Vanity Fair's April cover story, "Alec Baldwin Sounds O=f," is adapted from Baldwin's memoir, "Nevertheless," out April 4, along wit= comments from "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on March 1:

When the ["Saturday Night Live"] stage manager took me to my m=rk for the first dress rehearsal, I had no idea what I was going to do. I =ean, literally, the moment I walked out, I just said to myself, "Eyebrow u=," and I tried to stick my face and my mouth out. For the actual show, whe= I was in the makeup room, I put my wig on, and it was like a scene from a=mental hospital. I'm getting the wig on me, and I'm sitting there the whol= time going "Gyna, Gyna, Gyna." I didn't think about it—I just did=it. Now I should probably tell people, "I worked on it for months."
People ask me, "What is your whole ga=?' And I tell them, "You can suggest the voice or the way a person looks, =ut to be successful you have to think of who that person is. To me Trump is someone who is always searchin= for a stronger, better word, but he never finds it. Whe=ever I play him, I make a long pause to find that word, and then I just re=eat the word I started with: 'These people are great people. They're fanta=tic people, and I just want to say that working with them was . .=. a fantastic experience.' "

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