Subject: ?Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — Trump unplugged: "This isn't an exercise" — Uber's video-game psychology — Rising problem: subprime auto loans
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2017 06:46:08 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by Bank of America:

Trump unplugged: "This isn't an exercise" — Uber's video-game ps=chology — Rising problem: subprime auto loans

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Presented By Bank of America

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·Apr 03, 2017

1 big thing: Trump unplugged

The White House was bathed with blue lights last night in honor of World=Autism Awareness Day / AP's Alex Brandon

On Friday afternoon, after a signing c=remony on trade, President Trump sat down with the Financial Times in the =val Office and gave a blunt, hard-edged interview that foreshadows some tense conver=ations with Chinese President Xi Jinping at their Mar-a-Lago summit on Thu=sday and Friday:

[H]e made =lear that he would deal with North Korea with or without China's =elp. Asked if he would consider a "grand bargain" — where China pr=ssures Pyongyang in exchange for a guarantee that the US would later remov= troops from the Korean peninsula — Mr Trump said: "Well if China =s not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you."<=em>

The White House

Bill Bishop (@niub=) — publisher of The Sinocism China Newsletter, a=d one of Washington's most astute China-watchers — offered to help=Axios AM read between the lines of Trump's interview, and to get us smart =head of this week's summit:

"The U.S. does need
"Beijing does not contr=l Pyongyang, ... but it does still has significant economic influ=nce. ... China does not like North Korea but they value stability and the =tatus quo above everything else. And we should remember that China is curr=ntly at much more risk from Kim's nuclear weapons than the U.S. is, and that is something Beijing worries about."

"T=ere were people under Obama who pushing for a much harder line, f=om secondary sanctions to telling the Chinese that attempts at [North Kore=n] regime change would be considered, but as far as I know Obama was not w=lling to send that message clearly. It sounds like Trump is, and that shou=d focus minds in Beijing."

The bottom line: "[T]h= Chinese are going to be very resistant to anything that threatens the sta=ility on the Korean Peninsula, the paradox of course being that [North Kor=a] is threatening that stability more now than it has in years."

=p>Also worthy ... Josh Rogin column=in WashPost, "The Kushner channel to China": "In mid-November, Ki=singer met Kushner, national security adviser designate Michael Flynn and =he president-elect at Trump Tower. Trump asked Kissinger to travel to Beij=ng and deliver a verbal message to Xi saying that everything was on the ta=le in terms of bilateral cooperation. Kissinger met Xi in Beijing on Dec. =, and Xi sent back a private reply conveying China's wish to set up an ear=y meeting of the two presidents."

Breaking: Jared K=shner is in Iraq today with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of S=aff.

2. Trump in his own words

From an edited transcript of Trump'= fascinating interview with the Financial Times' Lionel Barber, Gillian T=tt and Demetri Sevastopulo:

Mr. Presid=nt, you use a language which is more abrasive than many of your predecesso=s ...

I =ould say. I hope so.

Are you proud of that?Well it hasn't worked for our predeces=ors.

What the world can't quite work out =s whether this is the most brilliant softening-up exercise, or whether you=want to fundamentally change the postwar liberal order.

This isn't an exercise. This is a very, very =erious problem that we have in the world today. And we have more than one =ut this is no exercise. This is not just ... talk. The United States has =alked long enough and you see where it gets us, it gets us nowhere. <=p>
Do you regret any of your tweets?

I don't regret anything, because there is no=hing you can do about it. You know if you issue hundreds of tweets, and ev=ry once in a while you have a clinker, that's not so bad. Now my last twee=, you know the one that you are talking about perhaps, was the one about b=ing in quotes wire tapped, meaning surveilled. Guess what, it is turning o=t to be true . . . I predicted Brexit.

3. Trump 101: Twitter backfires and blanks

When President-elect Trump was preparing to move to the=White House, some of his aides and security experts conspired to impose mo=e guardrails on his raw, prolific tweeting, Jonathan Swan and I w=ite this morning in the Axios STREAM.

"They tried everything in=the book," a top campaign official recalled. Some members of Trump's inner=circle feared that what was an undeniable asset during the campaign �=94 the power of authentic, direct communication — might become a m=xed blessing as the leader of the free world.

How right they=were. Trump has continued tweeting just as before, and the result=has been a dilution of the impact — a bit of a "boy who cried wolf= effect. As an example, a former aide cited Trump's repeat last week of hi= "change libel laws?" crusade. The tweet got little attention.

Read what Swan is=hearing from members of Congress about POTUS tweets.

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4. Schmoozing the Senate

Sen. Rand Paul talks with aide Sergio Gor after motorcading back to the =hite House following golf with Trump / Reuters' Joshua Roberts

Using perks to try to work Washington, Trump golfed yes=erday with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of his former primary opponents, at=Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.

White House Chief of S=aff Reince Priebus joined the two for lunch in the clubhouse, whe=e dozens of thrilled members greeted POTUS.

Arriving back a= the White House in the motorcade, Paul exited one of the SUVs an= told reporters on the lawn, per pooler James Osborne of the Houston Chron=cle:

We had a great day with the p=esident. Played some golf, and we talked and we talked about a little bit =f health care. I continue to be very optimistic that we are getting closer=and closer to an agreement on repealing Obamacare.

5. Article of the day

Jon Huang / The New York Times

The N.Y. Times' Noam Scheiber gets four columns above t=e fold for "How Uber Uses Psychologi=al Tricks to Push Its Drivers' Buttons: The company has under=aken an extraordinary experiment in behavioral science to subtly entice an=independent work force to maximize its growth":

"Some o= the most addictive [video] games ever made, like the 1980s and '=0s hit Tetris, rely on a feeling of progress toward a goal that is always =ust beyond the player's grasp. ... In its messages to drivers, [Uber] incl=ded a graphic of an engine gauge with a needle that came tantalizingly clo=e to, but was still short of, a dollar sign."

"Uber acknow=edged that it had experimented with female personas to increase e=gagement with drivers."

"Consider an algorithm c=lled forward dispatch — Lyft has a similar one — that disp=tches a new ride to a driver before the current one ends. Forward dispatch=shortens waiting times for passengers ... As with ... binge-watchi=g, many drivers appear to enjoy the forward-dispatch feature ... =ut it can ... work against their interests by increasing the number of dri=ers on the road and defusing fare surges."

"While the comp=ny has made no secret of its investment in self-driving cars, it =ould be a decade or more before they completely replace human drivers."

6. America's subprime auto problem

Wall Street analysts have worriedly watched rising subp=ime auto delinquencies — with some even suggesting similarities to=the subprime real estate market of 2006, writes Chris Matthews, back at his N=w York base:

Such interpretations are very likely =verblown, as the subprime auto market is far smaller than suprime real est=te was in 2006. Meanwhile, that cars are so easily recoverable and resold =akes these loans less of a threat to the solvency of lenders.

<=trong>A massive burden: Nonetheless, these loans illustrate the b=rden working class Americans must bear just so that they can continue to b= productive members of society. These loans typically bear an interest rat= of 14% over 67 months. Given the median used car costs roughly $19,000, a=suming a 10% down payment, that means $369 monthly payment — $112 =f which is interest — a huge burden for a minimum wage laborer.

7. Allegations against Bill O'Reilly and Roger Ailes

The N.Y. Times reported over=the weekend that $13 million has been paid to women accusing Bill O'Re=lly of sexual harassment, and at least six women have leveled accusations =gainst him.

Both O'Reilly and Roger Ailes have deni=d the accusations. 21st Century Fox released a statement in response to th= NYT story, saying the company "takes matters of workplace behavior very s=riously."

Here, from Ax=os' Dave Lawler, is a list of the women who have come forward:

<=trong>O'Reilly's accusers:

Andrea Mackris: Former producer. Accused O'Reilly of making inappropriate phone cal=s. O'Reilly paid her a $9 million settlement, according to the NYT.
Wendy Walsh: Former regular O'Reilly guest. Claims he of=ered to help her get a position at Fox News but reneged after she declined=to go to a hotel room with him.

Rebecca Gomez Diamond: Former Fox Business host. Accused O'Reilly of inappropriate phone cal=s. O'Reilly paid her a settlement, according to the NYT.

J=liet Huddy: Former regular O'Reilly guest. Accused him of inappro=riate phone calls and trying to kiss her, and then damaging her career aft=r she rejected his advances. Fox paid her a $1.6 million settlement, accor=ing to the NYT.

Andrea Tantaros: Former Fox News =ost. Sued both O'Reilly and Ailes for alleged sexual harassment.

<=trong>Laurie Dhue: Former Fox News host. Sued both O'Reilly and A=les for alleged sexual harassment. Fox paid her over $1 million, according=to the NYT.

Ailes' accusers:

Tantaros.

Dhue.

Gretch=n Carlson: Former Fox News host. Sued Ailes for allegedly harming=her career after she rebuffed his advances. Fox paid her $20 million.
=li>Megyn Kelly: Former Fox News host. During an internal =nvestigation, she said Ailes had made unwanted advances when she was a Fox=News correspondent, according to NY Mag.

Rudi Bakhtiar: Former Fox News reporter. She claims Ailes made inappropriate commen=s to her and that she was fired after accusing another Fox News employee o= sexual harassment.

8. A delicious profile

Tucker Carlson gets The New Yorker treatment ... "Tuc=er Carlson's Fight Words: On Fox News, an unlikely star thrives in the=tumult of Trump-era politics," by Kelefa Sanneh:

Some cable shows rely on the drama of puttin= people in the same place, but Carlson's thrives on remote interviews, whi=h allow his producers to "box" his face, keeping it onscreen so that viewe=s can watch him react. When Carlson is talking to someone he agrees with, =e pulls back, adopting the role of an earnest student seeking edification =rom a wise professor. But the segments most people remember are the conten=ious ones.

Carlson gr=ws incredulous and furrows his brow; he grows more incredulous an= unfurrows it, letting his features melt into a disbelieving smile, which =ometimes gives way to a high-pitched chuckle of outrage. One of his favori=e tactics is to insist that his guest answer a question that is essentiall= unanswerable, as when he pressed Bill Nye to tell him what percentage of =limate change was caused by human activity, then berated him for evading t=e question.

9. 100 years ago this Thursday ...

... on April 6, 1917, the United States entered="The Great War" (later World War I, or the First World War).
<=>100 years ago last night, per the N.Y. Times: "At 8:35 o'clock ...=the United States virtually made its entrance into the war. At that hour P=esident Wilson appeared before a joint session of the Senate and House and=invited it to consider the fact that Germany had been making war upon us a=d to take action in recognition of that fact in accordance with his recomm=ndations, which included universal military service, the raising of an arm= of 500,000 men, and co-operation with the Allies in all ways that will he=p most effectively to defeat Germany."

Four days later, Congre=s agreed.

10. 1 fun thing

Trump's awkward exit from an Oval Office signing ceremo=y on Friday, when he apparently forgot to sign the executive orders on tra=e he had just lauded, is reimagined by BuzzFeed's Jesse McLaren as the closing credits of HBO's "Veep=/a>."

This was in response to a request from BuzzFe=d colleague Brandon Wall‏, who had tweeted: "Could someone please =ash this up to be in the style of a @VeepHBO closing credits scene? PLEASE="

Wall tweeted his thanks: "Update: The internet m=ves fast."

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