Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — 'Trump contradicts White House' — Revealed: A key Axios management principle — Colbert: 'I won' — Work Bill Clinton's puzzle free
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 12 May 2017 06:35:09 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by Koch Industries:

'Trump contradicts White House' — Revealed: A key Axios manageme=t principle — Colbert: 'I won' — Work Bill Clinton's puzzl= free

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Presented By Koch Industries

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·May 12, 2017

​1 big thing: Building walls — around Trump

White House officials talk freely about putting "fences= around President Trump and his decision-making to protect him from his se=f-indulgent instincts.

The wall strategy has worked pretty well so far on national security. National Security Ad=iser H.R. McMaster demanded and got control of the National Security Counc=l, and set up a process for keeping SecDef Mattis, SecState Tillerson and =omeland Security Secretary Kelly in the loop — and, as importantly= keeping others outside it.

Inside the defense wall
No such wall exists=on the home front, which helps explain unexplainable mistakes like the han=ling of the Comey firing. So governing by grievance runs =nimpeded. An overnight AP headline captures the madness: "Trump contradicts White House."

=li>Sound smart: The one idea floating for tighter control=on domestic policy is an even bigger role for the Jared/Ivanka/Gary Cohn w=ng. BUT Trump so far has resisted an internal push for more order.

2. Shoes dropping everywhere

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe takes his seat before the Senate Intel=igence Committee, with a folder marked "Secret" / AP's Jacquelyn Martin

Speed read on a day of epic reversals, revelations, con=radictions and "whiplash":

Top =f WashPost front page, "FBI's ac=ing chief is sharply at odds with White House": "Acting FBI director A=drew McCabe ... said that the bureau considered the probe of possible coor=ination between the Kremlin and the Trump [campaign] team ... a 'highly si=nificant investigation' and that it would not be derailed."

=/span>"Trump [told NBC's Lester Holt] th=t he had decided to fire ... Comey regardless of whether the Justice Depar=ment recommended it, calling the ousted director 'a showboat' and 'a grand=tander.' Trump's ... contradicted previous White House statements." (<= href="http://link.axios.com/click/9597837.32906/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5sYXRpbWV=LmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy9sYS1uYS1wb2xpdGljcy10cnVtcC1jb21leS0yMDE3MDUxMS1zdG9yeS=odG1sP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9bmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnb=1uZXdzbGV0dGVyX2F4aW9zYW0/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cBc5b1898e" target="_bl=nk">L.A. Times)

Trump to Holt, during the 31-minute interview: "I =ctually asked him. ... I said: 'If it's possible, would you let me know, a= I under investigation?' He said: 'You are not under investigation.'" =/em>(Transcript)

"My Dinner With Comey= Current and Former FBI Officials Dispute Trump Account of Meetin= With FBI Director," by NBC's Ken Dilanian and Peter Williams: "The Januar= dinner meeting between the two men, [sources close to Comey] said, was re=uested by the White House. ... [A] former senior FBI official said Comey w=uld never have told the president he was not under investigation."

3. Zeitgeist

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, who was communications dire=tor to President George W. Bush, to Brian Willams on MSNBC's "11th Hour": =I was never sent out to lie. And if I had [been], I woulda quit."

David Axelrod to CNN's Don Lemon: "Had there not been a leak=[to the WashPost], Michael Flynn might yet be the national securi=y adviser ... It was only the leak that provoked the White House =o finally get rid of Flynn, when they should have fired him as so=n as Sally Yates reported on the information that she had."

=arc Thiessen, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, t= Fox's Martha MacCallum: "It is [supposedly] a political conspiracy to kil= an investigation that he's not a target of. It makes no sense. ... There'= no conspiracy here. ... When the president's pleasure ends, so does [Come='s] tenure."

Third Way's Matt Bennett to Fox's Mart=a MacCallum, on reports that Trump privately "badgered" Comey: "Imagine if=Hillary Clinton, as president, had done that."

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​4. Profile in courage

Sean Spicer walks from the West Wing toward reporters on Tuesday night, =fter the firing / AP's Carolyn Kaster

Numerous White House officials tell=us Trump has been dumping on his press shop for a sluggish de=ense of the Comey canning. He has raised replacing Sean Spicer in several =onversations with insiders and outsiders.

Full =isclosure: Spicer and I haven't always seen eye to eye. But it wa= not Spicer or his team that decided when and how to fire Comey, or to mis=ead the public by saying it driven by the recommendation of the deputy A.G= That was all Trump.

Oval Office visitors tell =e Trump often watches Spicer's briefing while he eats lunch in hi= private dining room. He shushes his visitor and turns up the volume when =he briefing starts, and critiques the exchanges like it's "SportsCenter."<=p>
The obsession might be too much for anyone to bear. =magine the pressure. And imagine knowing how easily your boss can be moved=to throw you under the bus.

A key tenet of the Axio= management principles is: "When shit happens, shine. It'= easy to manage and lead in good times. But it takes exceptional strength =nd character when things go south. In turbulent times, be calm, show grace= think deeply and then act decisively, even when it hurts."

The reason for this is simple: it's not only the righ= thing to do — it's the only thing to do if you want to attract an= keep good talent.

5. What Trump supporters are thinking

Next week's New Yorker cover, "Ejected," by Barry Blitt

This rhymes with what's being said on Fox, and is worth reading =... Frank Luntz, the Republican consultant and pollster (who can =hannel Trump partisans, but has also been critical of him), is quoted in t=e N.Y. Times ("Quote of the Day"!) on how people who are sympathetic to Tr=mp believe he is once again being held to an unfair standard:

"In a word, they see him as their =oice. And when their voice is shouted down, disrespected or simply ignored= that is an attack on them, not just an attack on Trump."

=akeaways from the p. A17 article by Jeremy Peters, "Resentful of Criticism= Conservatives Dig In in Defense of the President" (online: "For Trump Sup=orters, the Real Outrage Is the Left's Uproar Over Comey"),

"More clearly than other recent Trump-induced uproars, th= reaction to the Comey firing illustrated how many conservatives now justi=y their defense of the president as part of a fight against a rising tide =f overreaction and manufactured hysteria by the left. Mr. Trump ... has he=ped stoke those resentments."

"On Facebook, Repub=icans shared the 1993 C-Span footage of Bill Clinton's announcement that h= had fired William S. Sessions, the only other F.B.I. director to be dismi=sed ... [H]e had abused his federally funded travel privileges."

<=pan>"Erick Erickson, the writer and radio host who=has called for an independent investigation, ... called the cries of const=tutional crisis 'hysterics': 'Russiaism is the new Birtherism.'"

<=pan>"National Review, which ... sided against Mr. =rump [during the campaign, but has been friendlier since then], ... backed=his decision to fire Mr. Comey."

6. Happening next week

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), right, and=Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), brief reporters on Capitol Hill ye=terday following a closed-door meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Ro=enstein / AP's Jacquelyn Martin

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer says Majority Le=der Mitch McConnell has agreed to his request to invite Deputy Attorney Ge=eral Rod Rosenstein to brief senators next week, AP reports:

"Schumer made the an=ouncement on the Senate floor [yesterday]. He says he hopes the b=iefing will take place early next week."

=Democrats want to question Rosenstein about the memo he wrote cri=icizing Comey, which the White House has cited as justification for Trump'= sudden firing."

"Schumer says Democrats also hop= to hear from Attorney General Jeff Sessions."

7. Scoop: Coming attractions

We hear that House and Senate Republicans plan to begin=work, probably next month, on a budget that will balance within 10 years =E2�� meaning it'll have to include entitlement reform and chop some fa=orite Dem projects.

The kicker: Trump plans an=even more draconian budget that'll gut some popular domes=ic programs.

Be smart: A White House budget is a=ways purely symbolic. But these two moves, taken together, will cheer up c=nservatives and fire up Democrats as they head into next year's midterm el=ctions.

Tracking power ... With the memorabl= headline "The Economist=Who Helped Write Trump's Tax Plan in Five Days," Bloomberg profiles on= of the most powerful people in the White House who you may not have heard=of ... Shahira Knight, Special Assistant to the President=for Tax and Retirement Policy, and a key player in the tax-reform fight ah=ad. (White House bio)

8. Trump deal to boost China exports

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in his office on Tuesday / Reuters' Jonat=an Ernst

The 10-point plan was announced by Commerce Secretary W=lbur Ross at a 5 p.m. White House briefing, but reporters couldn't post un=il 11 p.m.

Per the Wall Street Journal: "After months=of bashing China for its trade practices, the Trump administration said it=had agreed with Beijing on a broad range of measures aimed at improving th= access of American beef producers, electronic-payments providers and natu=al-gas exporters, among others, to the world's second-largest economy."
Ross: "U.S.-China relationships are now hitting a=new high especially in trade."

"One factor that a=peared to be driving the timing of the announcement was [Chinese President=Xi Jinping's] upcoming 'One Belt One Road' summit, which is aimed at reviv=ng the Silk Road trading route."

Be smart, from <= href="http://link.axios.com/click/9597837.32906/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXhpb3M=Y29tL2NoaW5hLXRvLWVuZC1iYW4tb24tdS1zLWJlZWYtaW1wb3J0cy0yNDAzODY3NzgyLmh0bW=_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPW5ld=NsZXR0ZXJfYXhpb3NhbQ/5871993924c17c54d77a8b8cB600f4169" target="_blank">=xios' Shannon Vavra: The agreement is "underwhelming" and "mos=ly aspirational," an international trade expert tells Axios �=80� note the language: the U.S. "welcomes China," China "may proceed," t=e U.S. "recognizes," the U.S. "remains committed," and so on. This leaves = lot of questions as to what weight this agreement will ultimately hold.

9. Dem enthusiasm "off the charts"

Political parties and independent groups have unleashed=more than $20 million in federal races so far this year, an early preview =f massive midterm spending, Fredreka Schouten writes in USA Today's lead=story.

The biggest spender: "The Congressi=nal Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with House Speaker Paul Ryan, =.. has reported already spending more than $5 million to protect Republica=-held House seats in three [special] elections this year."

National Republican Congressional Committee, $4 million.
=li>#3: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $2 mi=lion.

10. 1 fun thing

CBS

Shot ... Trump to TIME: "You see a no-talent guy =ike Colbert. There's nothing funny about what he says. And what he says is=filthy. And you have kids watching. And it only builds up my base. It only=helps me, people like him. The guy was dying. By the way they were going t= take him off television, then he started attacking me and he started doin= better. But his show was dying. I've done his show. … But when I =id his show, which by the way was very highly rated. It was high —=highest rating. The highest rating he's ever had."

Chaser ..= Stephe= Colbert on last night's show: "The President of the United States has=personally come after me and my show. And there's only one thing =o say: He-he-he-he! Yaaaay! Yaaaay!" Audience applauds, chant=: "Ste-phen! Ste-phen!"

"=r. Trump, there's a lot you don't understand. But I neve= thought one of those things would be show business. Don't you kn=w? I've been trying for a year to get you to say my name. ... I w=n!" (Video)

B=nus fun thing ... Today's N.Y. Times' crossword is a collaboration between former Pr=sident Bill Clinton and the Arkansas district court judge Victor Fleming o= Little Rock. A Times release: "[T]his is the first time any U.S. presiden= is known to have had a crossword published and for the special puzzle, th= usual crossword paywall has been lifted." Celebrity collaborations wi=l continue periodically through the year.

Will Shortz, crossword editor, in a
1 =ad thing ... "The Title of Saddest Sports Town Now Goes to Washington," by N.Y. Times sports columnist Juliet Macur, on=the Caps' postseason loss: "This feeling of doom, that the home team will =lways do something to mess up a good season, is not unique to Washington, =f course. Boston overcame it. Chicago did, too. But it seems to be spreadi=g in this city, with baseball's Washington Nationals seemingly borrowing f=om the Capitals' story line, turning excellent regular seasons into playof= fiascoes."

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