Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — ?????? FBI probe enters West Wing — 'Nut job' trends on Twitter; Comey to testify publicly — Trump softens Islam tone — Uber pricing ploy
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 20 May 2017 08:24:10 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by BP:

✈️🇸🇦 FBI probe enters West Wing =E2�� 'Nut job' trends on Twitter; Comey to testify publicly — =rump softens Islam tone — Uber pricing ploy

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Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·May 20, 2017

You're invited ... to an event Tuesday at 8 =.m. in downtown D.C.: Chuck Todd and Jim VandeHei will ho=t a live, onstage version of their famous mini-roundtable, plus talk infra=tructure with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), an a=id pilot. Hope to see you — RSVP here.

1 big thing: Supernatural coat of paint?

Lazaro Gamio / Axios

As the the bombshell headlines flew with Air Force One =n route Saudi Arabia yesterday, a top outsider adviser to the West Wing em=iled me: "The drips are filling the bucket."

And a top offi=ial in another Republican White House told me in a phone call: "H= maybe be abroad, but he can't escape."

In conversations all=over town, people realized they were living history: momentous re=elations about peril inside the West Wing, just as "The Trump Show" was he=ded overseas for the first time.

Axios' Jonathan Swan is in 24/7 communication with White House sources, and tapped out this =ripping postcard on his iPhone:

[M]ost WH officials I've spoken to privately this week are c=oser to being numb than panicked. Those who went through the campaign with=Trump are numb to the crises and thought so many times before that *this* =ould be the one to break Trump. They've been wrong so many times before =E2�� the vast majority of Trump campaign staff, no matter their public=posturing, thought Clinton would crush him.

They view their boss as completely undiscipl=ned and self-destructive. They're exasperated by him ... They're sick and =ired of the media feeding frenzy. But even in their most frustrated moment=, they'll admit that Trump has got some special resilience that they can't=begin to understand. A coat of protection that almost seems supern=tural to them.

White House sources have texted me this week asking how bad I th=nk the story of the day is. One asked me whether I thought Trump's private=comments to Comey were a better story or worse for Trump than the release =f the "Access Hollywood" tape. Those who were there for "Access Hollywood"=have no idea what it would take to sink Trump.

After we=talked, Swan sent this P.S.: "The core Trumpers from the campaign=— who view themselves as loyal to Trump above all else — a=e completely unfazed by the Russia and Comey revelations. They're just swi=ging for Trump and have no qualms working to defend him."

2. Catch up quick

Jared Kushner (left) and Steve Bannon participate in a ceremony to pres=nt President Trump with Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honor, the Collar =f Abdulaziz Al Saud, at the Royal Court Palace in Riyadh today / AP's Evan=Vucci

Keepers from the news waterfall:

Trump to Russian officials in the Oval Office on May=10, the day after he fired Comey, per a document summarizing the meeting t=at was read to the N.Y. Times (Matt Apuzzo, Maggie Haberman and Matt Rosenb=rg) by an American official: "I just fired the head of th= F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job ... I faced great pressure because of=Russia. That's taken off. ... I'm not under investigation."

=/span>"Trump jokingly asked whether there were reporters =n the room. 'No,' [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov said. 'No fake =edia.'"

"Sean Spicer ... did not dis=ute the account."

"A ... government official =/strong>[said] Trump ... was using a negotiating tactic ... to coax conces=ions ... — on Syria, Ukraine and other issues — by saying =hat Russian meddling in last year's election had created enormous politica= problems for Mr. Trump."

WashPost banner, "Russia probe reaches a top adviser in White House," by Devlin=Barrett and Matt Zapotosky: "The law enforcement investigation ... has ide=tified a current White House official as a significant person of interest =.. The senior White House adviser ... is someone close to the president."<=li>
The Post doesn't name the official. Devlin Barrett= the lead reporter, told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that the paper has more rep=rting to do before it can publish a name.

Wall Street Journal lead story, "Fired FBI Director To =estify In Public Hearing": Comey "is expected to testify =fter Memorial Day, ... according to the leaders of the Senate Intelligence=Committee."

The ultimate Speed Read ... Catch=Shane Savitsky's "This Week in Trumpland."

=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. The Swamp

The legal fallout ...

"Special couns=l probe could reach into Trump's business empire." (McClatchy)

"White House lawyers r=search impeachment." (CNN's Evan Perez)<=em>

"White House looking at ethics rule to weaken speci=l investigation," by Reuters' Julia Edwards Ainsley: "Within hours of Muel=er's appointment, ... the White House began reviewing the Code of Federal =egulations, which restricts newly hired government lawyers from investigat=ng their prior law firm's clients for one year after their hiring. ... Mue=ler's former law firm, WilmerHale, represents ... Jared Kushner ... and ..= Paul Manafort."

FBI probe will become more visib=e, per the Post: "[T]he investigation appears to be ent=ring a more overtly active phase, with investigators shifting from work th=t has remained largely hidden from the public to conducting interviews and=using a grand jury to issue subpoenas."

A message from BP

How is BP contributing to America?

BP invests more in the U.S. than anywhere else, and over the past 10 yea=s no energy company has invested more in America.

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4. Zeitgeist

What they're saying ...

David Gerge= on CNN: "The way this is breaking … paints a very dark p=cture. … [W]e're in impeachment territory. … [The possibil=ty of impeach is] down the road. But we're in deep, serious issues now."
Nicolle Wallace, anchoring on MSNBC, with Trump in =he air: "Air Force One is a massive plane. ... But when you're ... a White=House in crisis, ... it becomes very, very small."

M=NBC chief legal correspondent Ari Melber, to anchor Ali Velshi: "=P]eople ... wondered, 'Why does Donald Trump keep saying so many things th=t are adverse to his interest?' And the answer may be that the investigati=n is proceeding in a way that he feels a tremendous amount of pressure."

=/a>

5. Softer language on Islam

In draft of sp=ech to be delivered in Saudi Arabia tomorrow, Trump abandons =ome of the harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric of his campaign, per AP's Vivian Sal=ma and Jonathan Lemire, with Matt Lee:

"Trump will ...=call for unity in the fight against radicalism in the Muslim worl=, casting the challenge as a 'battle between good and evil' and urging Ara= leaders to 'drive out the terrorists from your places of worship,' accord=ng to a draft of the speech.

"It notably refrains=from mentioning democracy and human rights — topics Arab leaders o=ten view as U.S. moralizing — in favor of the more limited goals o= peace and stability.

From the draft:
Sean Spicer: "The =resident has not seen this draft ... This is one of five drafts that have =een written by various people. He continues to take input and is writing a=final version."

Wheels down ... "Mela=ia Trump skips headscarf as she arrives in Saudi Arabia" �=94 AP: The First Lady "stepped off of Air Force One conservatively dressed in=long sleeves and pants to conform to the strict dress code ... But one thi=g was missing from her black and gold-belted ensemble: a head scarf. Inste=d, Mrs. Trump's below-the-shoulder brown hair blew freely in the breeze." =em>(Pic)

6. "Why the hell would we?"

"Trump tells advisers he =ants to end key Obamacare subsidies: Many senior aides oppose the move for=fear it will backfire politically," per Politico's Josh Dawsey, Jennifer H=berkorn and Paul Demko:

"The payments, estima=ed at $7 billion for this year, go to insurance companies to reduce deduct=bles and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income consumers — an e=timated 7 million people in 2017. Insurers are on the hook under the healt= law to keep paying even if the federal money stops."

The =ove "could send the health law's insurance markets into a tailspi=."

"Many advisers oppose the move be=ause they worry it would backfire politically if people lose their insuran=e or see huge premium spikes and blame the White House ... Trump has said =hat the bold move could force Congressional Democrats to the table to nego=iate an Obamacare replacement."

"Trump told a=des in a Tuesday Oval Office meeting that he wants to end the pay=ents to insurers because he doesn't gain anything by continuing them: 'Why=the hell would we?'"

"Trump added that if Congres= wants the subsidies, lawmakers would find a way to pay for them."

7. Tweet du jour

The buyer ... "Japanese billionaire =usaku Maezawa ... started an import music business [in 1995], selling CDs =nd vinyls of his favorite bands by mail from his home. ... In 1998, he use= the mail-order music business to launch Start Today, naming the company a=ter an album by punk band Gorilla Biscuits."

8. The talk of tech

Uber =ow charges some carpooling routes (in 14 cities) not just by =ime and distance, but also using machine-learning algorithms to predict a =oute's willingness to pay, per Bloomberg's Eric Newcomer:

Under "route-based pricing," which Uber has been testing for mo=ths, "someone traveling from a wealthy neighborhood to another tony spot m=ght be asked to pay more than another person heading to a poorer part of t=wn, even if demand, traffic and distance are the same."

Dr=vers are being cut out of some of the gains: "[D]rivers have been=complaining that the gap between the fare a rider pays and what the driver=receives is getting wider."

Uber acknowledged the change to drivers yesterday: "Uber will start reporting the price a passen=er pays on each ride, though it will stop breaking out the percentage Uber=takes of the fare."

The takeaway: Money-losing Ub=r needs the cash. Daniel Graf, Uber's head of product: "You know our numbe=s ... We do want to run and operate a sustainable business."

9. What Wall Street is thinking

Bearish talk on the Trump agenda from Barron's,=/strong> which provides Axios AM readers with free links to three pieces b=hind the paywall:

"The controversies swirl=ng around the administration could thwart much of the president's agenda, =er Randall Forsyth's "Up & Down Wall Street" column: "A flatter [Treasury market] =ield curve is a classic sign of reduced market expectations of rising inte=est rates, inflation, and growth. That is how politics have affected the o=tlook for policy, the economy, and the markets.

"Streetwise" co=umn by Kopin Tan: "The same people who urged us to buy stocks in November =ecause Trump will bestow on us big tax cuts and fiscal stimulus now say st=cks can rally without Trump. Yes, global growth is healthy, but the rate o= change in growth is turning lower in economies from the U.S. to China. ..= Things are fine now, but someday the future will arrive."

"Buffett's Berkshire Could Post Double-Digit Gains: Berkshire Hathaw=y will excel, Buffett or no Buffett."

10. 1 fun thing: Season finale

NBC's "Saturday Night =ive"

"Saturday Night Live" wraps Season 42 tonight: Former W=estleMania star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who sounds=pretty serious about running against Trump in 2020, hosts with musical guest Katy Perry.

From the N.Y. Times' Sopan Deb (former Trump campaign chronicler for CBS), "'Saturday Night Live': The=Most Memorable Moments This Season":

<=trong>"Alec Baldwin pursing his lips, squinting his eyes, saying =Jina.' Melissa McCarthy plowing a podium into a crowd of reporters. Kate M=Kinnon pivoting from a self-absorbed Hillary Clinton to a deer-in-the-head=ights Kellyanne Conway."

A message from BP

How is BP contributing to America?

BP invests more in the U.S. than anywhere else, and over the past 10 yea=s no energy company has invested more in America.

=earn more about our U.S. impact.

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