Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — Trump, baffled and brooding — Economist cover: Trump and golf — The power of PB&J
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2017 06:32:08 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by Bank of America:

Trump, baffled and brooding — Economist cover: Trump and golf =E2�� The power of PB&J

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Presented By Bank of America

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Mar 31, 2017

1 big thing: Trump, baffled and brooding

Trump, during an opioid and drug abuse listening session Wednesday n the=Cabinet Room with Chris Christie, Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions an= Education Secretary Betsy DeVos / AP's Evan Vucci

President Trump brought his chaos-and-loyalty theory of=management into the White House, relying on competing factions, balanced b= trusted family members, with himself perched atop as the gut-instinct
=ecider. He now realizes this approach has flopped, and feels baffled and p=ralyzed by how to fix it, numerous friends and advisers tell us.

"Trump is thinking through his frustrations," said one Washin=ton wise man close to the West Wing. "The team didn't put the wind=ws in right."

The chaos dimension has crea=ed far more chaos than anticipated. Come nightfall, Trump is often on the =hone with billionaire, decades-long friends, commiserating and critiquing =is own staff. His most important advisers are often working the phone them=elves, trashing colleagues and either spreading or beating down rumors of =urmoil and imminent changes.

This has created a tox=c culture of intense suspicion and insecurity. The drama is worse than wha= you read.

Behind the curtain: Axios' Jonathan Swan=today sat in Reince Priebus' office with Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, and =eince's deputy, Katie Walsh, who — fed up with the internal "Game=of Thrones," and treated with suspicion by some prominent West Wing collea=ues — is leaving to help launch Trump's outside political group, =merica First Policies.

The purpose of the meeting w=s to spin her departure — the officials said they needed an all-s=ar player to get the group off the ground. But during the conversation on= of the officials made a revealing comment. He views the Trump White Hous= in terms that could be applied to the iterative process of designing soft=are. It's a beta White House.

The senior official =E2�� the comment was "on background" — said the White House w=s operating on similar principles to the Trump campaign:

"We rode something until it didn't work =ny more," the official said. "We recognized it didn't work, we changed it,=we adjusted it and then we kind of got better ... [T]his was much more ent=epreneurial."

In the White Hous=, he said, "we're going to keep adjusting until we get it right.<=p>

Translation: Buckle up. You should expect regul=r, sometimes violent, upheavals in this Trump White House.

In any organization, all habits — good and=bad — trickle down. So no wonder you have so many young staffers=spending so much time stirring mischief and trying to prove loyalty, often=blindly.

2. The first to crack?

Flynn introduces Trump at a campaign rally in Bedford, N.H., in Septembe= / AP's John Locher

Shot ... Gen. Mike Flynn to Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet t=e Press" on Sept. 25, re Hillary aides: "When you are given immunity,=that means that you have probably committed a crime."

Chase= ... Wall Street Journal front page=today, "Flynn Offers Deal for Testimony," by Shane Harris, Carol Lee and J=lian Barnes: "Flynn, ... Trump's former national security adviser, has tol= the [FBI] and congressional officials investigating the Trump campaign's =otential ties to Russia that he is willing to be interviewed in exchange f=r a grant of immunity from prosecution."

he was seeking immunity suggested Mr. F=ynn feels he may be in legal jeopardy."

Sound smart: Flynn is a loose canno= with nothing left to lose. The Trump camp should be worried.

3. Digital bully pulpit

Trump awaits the arrival of Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen y=sterday / AP's Pablo Martinez Monsivais

As part of his increasingly bullying posture toward the=House GOP's hardline Freedom Caucus, Trump yesterday began using a tool th=t members of Congress fear — and that we thought he'd use more in=the health-care fight. On Twitter, Trump badgered and hugged individual la=makers:

"If @RepMarkMeadows, @Jim_Jordan and =Raul_Labrador would get on board we would have both great healthcare and m=ssive tax cuts & reform. ... Where are @RepMarkMeadows, @Jim_Jordan an= @Raul_Labrador?#RepealANDReplace."

"Gr=at op-ed from @RepKenBuck. Looks like some in the Freedom Cau=us are helping me end #Obamacare."

"The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team,=& fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!"

=a href="http://link.axios.com/click/9282419.39594/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLm=vbS9yZWFsRG9uYWxkVHJ1bXAvc3RhdHVzLzg0NzQ1NTE4MDkxMjE4MTI0OT91dG1fc291cmNlP=5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlv=2Ft/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cBa79e1c54" target="_blank">Bonus Trump tweet=/a>: "The failing @nytimes has disgraced the media world. Gotten =e wrong for two solid years. Change libel laws?"

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4. This'll get an "Amen" from Trump, Ryan

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) flays the Freedom Caucus i= a N.Y. Times Op-Ed, "Undermining the G.O.P.=From Within":

They move the goal po=ts, and once that happens, they still refuse to play. We are the C=arlie Brown party, hoping that this time, things will be differen=. But time and again, the Freedom Caucus is Lucy �=94 pulling the ball out from under us, letting us take the fall and smilin= to themselves for making a splash. It's a cheap tactic, not a way to gove=n, and enough is enough.

5. Trump starts nationalist trade push

The President's top trade officials last night previewe= two executive actions that are coming today, intended to signal to foreig= countries that Trump intends to follow through on his nationalist campaig= rhetoric. Axios' Jonathan Swan was on the White House conferen=e call:

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and t=e U.S. Trade Representative are initiating a comprehensive study of the wa=s foreign countries are fleecing America on trade. They'll report back in =0 days with findings on everything from unbalanced free trade deals to lax=enforcement to unfair WTO constraints.

Peter Navarro, the director of Trump's National Trade Council, said too many countrie= are getting away with dumping artificially cheap goods into U.S. markets.=/li>
The giant panda in the room: Navarro said the ann=uncement wasn't about China ― but it kinda is. The example of unfa=r trade practice that Ross highlighted was the dumping of artificially che=p, state-subsidized steel into the American market. And which country migh= be doing that? Trump could have a rather contentious meeting next week at=Mar-a-Lago with President Xi.

6. "Washington has work to do"

The Economist's cover leader, "The Trump presidency is in a hole ... And that is bad for America �=80� and the world":

It is tempti=g to feel relief that the Trump presidency is a mess. For those who doubt =uch of his agenda and worry about his lack of respect for institutions, pe=haps the best hope is that he accomplishes little. That logic is beguiling= but wrong. After years of gridlock, Washington has work to do. The forthc=ming summit with Xi Jinping, China's president, shows how America =s still the indispensable nation. A weak president can be dangero=s — picture a trade war, a crisis in the Baltics or conflict on th= Korean peninsula.

Chaser ... Michael Bloomber= Op-Ed in N.Y. Times,"Climate Progress, Without Trump=:

Those who believe that the Trump administration will end American leadership on climate ch=nge are making the same mistake as those who believe that it will put coal=miners back to work: overestimating Washington's ability to influence ener=y markets, and underestimating the role that cities, states, businesses an= consumers are playing in driving down emissions on their own.

7. Future-watch: Every business will be in education

In a conversation last evening with reporters in Boston= GE CEO Jeff Immelt said the company is going all-in on futuristic manufac=uring, having ditched businesses like finance and network television to fo=us on building stuff like jet engines and gas turbines.

Axios' Chris Matthews reports these =akeaways from Immelt's comments at the dinner at Row 34, a few blocks from=GE's new HQ:

Fears of robot-driven joblessness are over=lown, even as he invests billions in automation:
Robot= are making Americans richer: Businesses can only pay workers mor= if they become more productive, and automation allows humans to focus on =ore valuable tasks.

It's not just technology, but politics=that drive automation: "The question of the last election was: 'H=w do you create $25 per hour jobs?'"

Every business will b= in the education business: GE and firms like it must do more to =rain workers to rise above tasks that robots can do, "not because we're bl=eding hearts, but because we're good at it."

8. Business talker

"Airlines Make More Money Selling Miles Than Seats: The=golden goose isn't your ticket or bag fee — it's the credit card y=u use to collect frequent flier miles," by Bloomberg's Justin Bachman:

"Each mile fetches =n airline anywhere from 1.5 cents to 2.5 cents, and the big banks=amass those miles by the billions, doling them out to cardholders each mon=h."

"For the banks, people who pay annual fees f=r those cards to accumulate miles are the closest thing to a sure bet."
The sale of miles "has expanded so much=that it accounts for more than half of all profits for some airlines, incl=ding American Airlines Group Inc., the world's largest."

9. Worthy of your time

Rarely released details in USA Today's cover story, "Silver Stars=reveal secret valor among Delta Force, other commandos," by Tom Vanden Bro=k:

The awards, du= to their sensitive, secretive nature of their missions, were bestowed wit=out public notice. The Army released to USA TODAY 12 of 41 the narratives =ssociated with the Silver Stars, the third-highest medal granted for heroi=m. ...

A few threads<=strong> hold together the narratives for the 12 Silver Stars awarded to Ar=y commandos: lots of bullets, many aimed at the soldiers, some striking th=m, but many, many more outgoing, killing insurgents and protecting fellow =roops. And death, mostly, for insurgents. The Pentagon has been loath to a=knowledge body counts in the counterinsurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanista=, as top commanders, such as Gen. David Petraeus, insisted that killing is=not the path to ultimate victory. The Silver Stars were not won in hearts-=nd-minds battles, but in life-and-death struggles. Eighteen al-Qaeda fight=rs were killed in a battle in Baghdad, while more than 20 Taliban militant= died in Helmand Province.

10. 1 healthy thing

Men's Fitness has a handy list of the "dirtiest menu wo=ds": Alfredo, butter, breaded, battered, crispy, fritters, golden, refried= loaded, pan-fried, covered and — worst of all — <=em>smothered.

The (c)leane=t menu words: grilled, baked, lightly sautéed, primavera, ma=inara, roasted and — best of all — steamed.
P.S. "The NBA's Secret Addiction," by Baxter Holmes in E=PN The Magazine: "[T]he power of the PB&J [is] being =ielded as a form of asymmetric nutritional warfare." The Milwaukee Bucks h=ve offered players peanut-butter-and-jelly-flavored oatmeal, PB&J reco=ery shakes, PB&J waffles and PB&J pancakes.

The NBA is covered in experts, obsessed w=th peak performance — and still this pillar of g=ade-school cafeteria lunches is the staple snack of the league. An exorbit=ntly wealthy microclique, backed by an army of personal chefs, swears by a=sandwich whose standard ingredients boast a street value of roughly 69 cen=s.

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