The Note: More clean-ups ahead for Trump

The dynamic makes itself clear as the administration continues to explain the president’s meeting with Vladimir Putin last week, along with the concession that another summit can’t happen until 2019.

It’s evident in the president’s efforts to blunt the impact of the very tariffs he continues to champion. A trade-war pause with Europe allowed Trump to celebrate a “big day” and a “new phase” where what was really agreed to was to work toward an agreement.

Thursday brings another marking point in the Trump administration’s difficulties in cleaning up self-created messes.

The court-imposed deadline for reunification of migrant children separated from their families has arrived. There’s substantial progress, but also new evidence that the task almost certainly can’t be completed – and that there was little front-end consideration to reversing the policy that reached full-blow crisis levels just weeks ago.

“This country was in no way prepared for the industrial scale of family separation,” Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat who represents El Paso in the House, said on the “Powerhouse Politics” podcast.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

The White House would never admit it, or refer to the events the way they unfolded this week, but twice in the last two days the president has arguably backtracked big time.

First, the rescinded Russian invite. After careful consideration (not to mention serious skepticism from his party and the Russians themselves), President Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton announced yesterday that the next meeting with Russian President Putin won’t be this fall after all. They’ll wait until the next year instead.

The second meeting was first proposed hastily, catching the director of national intelligence off-guard and confusing lawmakers who were still reeling from the perplexing and controversial Helsinki summit.

The Note: More clean-ups ahead for Trump

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/APDonald Trump, left, and Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland.

What’s more, Trump also seemed to do a 180 on trade, stepping back from his threats and tough talk and instead smiling next to the president of the European commission a week after calling the European Union a “foe.”

A brewing trade war between the U.S. and EU is on hold — at least for now — and just in time for the president’s trip to the Midwest where farmers and lawmakers have been increasingly expressing extreme anxiety about possible tariffs.

The TIP with Molly Nagle

President Donald Trump is heading to Dubuque, Iowa, where he’ll appear alongside vulnerable Republican Representative Rod Blum (IA-01) for a roundtable discussion.

The visit to one of the top soybean-producing states comes as tensions are high over the growing trade war, and after the Trump administration’s announcement Tuesday that it would make $12 billion in temporary relief aid available to farmers impacted by the trade fight with China and other nations—earning criticism from Blum’s Democratic challenger, State Representative Abby Finkenauer.

The Note: More clean-ups ahead for Trump

Lauren Justice/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesDemocratic candidate Abby Finkenauer stands for a portrait in Dubuque, Iowa on June 4, 2018.

“Let’s be clear about what’s happening here. After starting a trade war on Twitter, this administration is dusting off a 1930s, Depression-era program to provide an emergency fix to a problem they caused,” Finkenauer said in a statement. “I hear every day from farmers in this district who just want stability and a thoughtful trade policy, which they’re absolutely not getting from Donald Trump and Rod Blum. The farm economy doesn’t work on a Twitter cycle — Blum should show some backbone for once and put Trump in front of farmers tomorrow to deliver that message.”

Blum supports Trump, and said in a tweet he “appreciates” the president’s efforts to help farmers as better trade deals are worked out. But a lot of attention is sure to be paid to any comments from Trump on tariffs in the Corn Belt.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • Trump heads to Dubuque, Iowa, for a roundtable event at noon.
  • The president tours Granite City Works, a United States Steel Corporation production site, at 3:05 p.m. The president then makes remarks at 3:40 p.m.
  • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence make remarks at the first Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom at 10 a.m. Pompeo then hosts a press conference at 4:10 p.m.
  • Wisconsin Republican candidates for Senate debate at 7 p.m. EDT at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
  • Illinois 6th Congressional District candidates debate at 7 p.m. EDT at the Lincoln Forum in Chicago.
  • Senate Appropriations Committee hears from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at 9:45 a.m.
  • QUOTE OF THE DAY

    “Somehow there’s this idea that this administration is free floating. This is President Trump’s administration. Make no mistake who’s fully in charge of this and directing each of these activities that has caused Vladimir Putin to be in a very difficult place today.” – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s at the Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday.

    THE PLAYLIST

    ABC News Podcast “Start Here.” The episode looks into the Cohen tape, rural catholic hospitals, Mars discovery and Wikipedia editing to highlight women.

    NEED TO READ

    11 House GOP members introduce articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. 11 House Republicans have introduced articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. (Matt Zarrell) https://abcn.ws/2v4g2yw

    Trump to talk tariffs in farm country, mill town. President Donald Trump is expected to continue his focus on tariffs this week as he visits two cities in the Midwest that have directly felt the impact of his recent trade decisions. (Stephanie Ebbs) https://abcn.ws/2LrW2Rz

    Trump announces an agreement with European Union on some tariffs. “We agreed today, first of all, to work together toward zero tariffs, zero nontariff barriers and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods,” Trump said during his remarks in the Rose Garden as he stood next European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. (Roey Hadar) https://abcn.ws/2Oiruzt

    Pompeo faces tough questions on Russia, North Korea. It’s Pompeo’s first time in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after Trump’s historic meetings with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian leader Vladimir Putin – the outcomes of which are both now being called into question. (Conor Finnegan) https://abcn.ws/2OgLguU

    Trump’s next proposed summit with Putin delayed. “The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we’ve agreed that it will be after the first of the year,” Bolton said in a statement. (Meridith McGraw and Roey Hadar) https://abcn.ws/2uRJNTI

    Confusion, questions linger over possible US-Russia deal on Syrian refugees. During their joint press conference last Monday, Putin specifically mentioned Russia and the U.S. working together to “help Syrian refugees to go back to their homes.” Trump endorsed the idea too, saying, “We will do that.” (Conor Finnegan) https://abcn.ws/2LnigEa

    Senate Republicans clash with Democrats over access to Kavanaugh’s White House records. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has insisted that the documents that will be available as part of his vetting process will compromise “most likely the largest document production in history for a Supreme Court nomination.” (Ali Rogin) https://abcn.ws/2LQNM9Q

    State Department defends allowing publication of blueprints to 3D print guns. Just days before digital blueprints that would allow people to 3D print firearms are set to go live online, the State Department is defending the move to allow their publication, even as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised to look into the issue. (Karolina Rivas and Conor Finnegan) https://abcn.ws/2LT2uwI

    Rep. O’Rourke on Powerhouse Politics: Calls to abolish ICE just a ‘slogan.’ Rep. Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic nominee challenging Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas this fall, says that his fellow Democrats’ call to abolish ICE is just a “slogan or a bumper sticker” that won’t accomplish anything. (Elizabeth Brown-Kaiser) https://abcn.ws/2Lps7JF

    Judge allows emoluments case against Trump to move forward. A lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of violating a constitutional clause that prohibits elected officials from doing business with foreign governments can move forward, a federal judge wrote Wednesday. (Lucien Bruggeman) https://abcn.ws/2OjuBa7

    Maria Butina’s attorney warned against trying her case in the press. Maria Butina was in court today, but her lawyer’s comments to the press drew the judge’s attention. (Pete Madden) https://abcn.ws/2JTQFF1

    MSU and USOC heads get grilled for handling of Nassar case. John Engler, the Interim President of Michigan State University (MSU), testified that the school has entered a $500 million settlement with the survivors of Larry Nassar’s sexual abuses, but denied that he offered money to an athlete individually. (Nataly Pak) https://abcn.ws/2NHta4o

    The Daily Beast digs into an Eastern European company that donated $325,000 to the pro-Trump political group, America First Action, making the company on of America first’s top 20 donors. https://thebea.st/2uLbeyH

    A report issued to Congress by the National Security Agency’s watchdog finds “many issues of non-compliance” in NSA’s data handling, reports the Hill. https://bit.ly/2LOlkoQ

    Sourse: abcnews.go.com

    The Note: More clean-ups ahead for Trump

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