Tag: The Atlantic

When Donald Trump visited the UK, Steve Bannon wasn't far behind. The president's former chief strategist breezed effortlessly into TV and radio studios, trying to sanitise his old boss' politics and keep himself relevant. On his foray across the Atlantic, he unveiled his new plans: a foundation called "The Movement". But Bannon is just one man and within days of him making this announcement far-right figures from across Europe signalled they weren't all that interested in his plans. From Brexit to EU elections, what people like Bannon thrive off is the "culture war" narrative. Take Bannon's endorsement of far-right, anti-Muslim figure Tommy Robinson when he was in the UK. In an off-air conversation, he described Robinson, who was in prison for contempt of court, "the f**king backbone of this country". The far-right are in ascendance across significant parts of the world, and in places where they aren't in power, they're influencing the people that are in a frightening way. But they're a sign of what the far-right, who use this culture wars narrative, want to help pave the way for: aggressive state control, marginalising minorities and going after migrants. The Movement could prove a dangerous vehicle for these very ideas, but without it or not, the far-right is already helping set the political agenda in a significant way.

Washington Post columnist George Will considers the president a 'Sad, Embarrassing Wreck of a Man,' in his latest piece while James Fallows in The Atlantic says now is a moment of truth for the GOP. Both join Morning Joe to…

Several congressional leaders attended classified briefings with Justice Department officials on the FBI’s use of an informant in the Russia investigation. Roger Stone, a former Trump campaign adviser, reportedly sought information on Hillary Clinton from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in September 2016. Trump signed legislation easing restrictions on all but the largest banks, the biggest rollback of regulations since the global financial crisis. ‘The War on Stupid People’: Americans have come to value intelligence as the ultimate indicator of human worth. That has to stop, argues David H. Freedman. Snapshot What We’re Reading Good Riddance: President Trump was right to walk away from the negotiating table with Kim Jong Un, writes Ben Shapiro. America shouldn’t have been touting a meeting with the world’s worst dictator in the first place, he argues. (Slate) Something’s Off: Trump’s critics agree that American democracy is under threat. Some say it’s due to eroding norms, but there could be another reason: Capitalism is failing. (Eric Levitz, New York) White Flight: A new study shows that white Americans are leaving the Democratic Party in droves.

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Today in 5 Lines Nine students and one teacher were killed after a gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, according to Governor Greg Abbott. A student who survived the shooting told a reporter, “It’s been happening everywhere. I’ve always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here, too.” The House rejected an $867 billion farm bill. Members of the House Freedom Caucus voted against the legislation after failing to secure a future vote on a conservative immigration bill. The Trump administration released new guidelines that would withhold federal funding from health clinics providing abortions or referring patients for abortions. Trump nominated Robert Wilkie, the acting veterans affairs secretary, to be the agency’s permanent leader. Rudy Giuliani told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that the special counsel agreed to narrow the scope of an interview with the president down to “about two” topics, signaling that Trump’s team is continuing to work with Mueller while also ramping up public attacks. Today on The Atlantic Big Ramifications: President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal is exposing serious cracks in the trans-Atlantic alliance, writes Krishnadev Calamur. (Russell Berman) Ramadan Is Different This Year: The Muslim holy month has begun, just as a violent and chaotic week in Palestine comes to a close, and many in Jerusalem are praying for those who died. (Susan Glasser, The New Yorker) Dehumanizing Rhetoric: Paul Waldmann argues that President Trump’s comment calling immigrant gang members “animals” is part of a particular strategy he’s used often: “Focus on crimes committed by individual immigrants as a way of ginning up fear and hatred, creating animus toward all immigrants.” (The Week) On the other Hand: Referring to MS-13 gang members as “animals” is accurate, argues Caleb Howe.

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Today in 5 Lines On the first anniversary of the special counsel’s Russia probe, President Trump reiterated his claim that there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russians. Trump told reporters that he was referring to MS-13 gang members when he called some undocumented immigrants “animals” on Wednesday. The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel as CIA director. She’ll be the first woman to lead the agency. Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted again, sending a plume of ash 30,000 feet into the sky. The explosion comes after two weeks of volcanic activity that has destroyed at least 26 homes on the Big Island. Authorities said one teacher and one student were killed, and more than 40 others were injured, in a school-bus crash in New Jersey. Today on The Atlantic DIY Education: Some black parents are turning to homeschooling to protect their kids from the systemic racism embedded in America’s public education system. (Melinda D. Anderson) It’s Too Late Now: “Throughout his career, Trump has coped with failure by brazenly misrepresenting failure as success,” writes David Frum. We can expect the administration to take a similar approach in its negotiations with North Korea.

The Senate Judiciary Committee released nearly 2,000 pages of testimony and exhibits related to a 2016 meeting between Trump aides and a Kremlin-connected lawyer. During his testimony before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who has been under scrutiny for his conduct and spending, admitted to some of the accusations against him while denying he was wholly to blame. Michigan State University reached a $500 million settlement with 332 victims of Larry Nassar, the former Olympic doctor convicted of sexually abusing young female athletes. The Senate Intelligence Committee voted to advance the nomination of Gina Haspel, Trump’s pick to be CIA director. Today on The Atlantic The 9.9 Percent: “The meritocratic class has mastered the old trick of consolidating wealth and passing privilege along at the expense of other people’s children,” writes Matthew Stewart in this month’s cover story. Lingering Mysteries: It’s been a year since Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to lead the investigation into Russia’s election interference. (Natasha Bertrand) The Great Immigration Bargain: Reihan Salam argues that it’s possible for President Trump to implement the restrictionist immigration agenda he wants—he just has to accept that a sweeping amnesty is the only way to make it happen. (Nick Corasaniti, The New York Times) How House Republicans Are Trying to Win the Midterms: They’re bombarding voters who are less likely to support traditional GOP candidates with Trump-specific digital advertising. (David M. Drucker, Washington Examiner) ‘They’ve Had a Whole Year’: The special counsel’s probe isn’t likely to wrap up any time soon, but that’s not stopping Trump’s team from pressuring Robert Mueller to do so. (Darren Samuelsohn, Politico) A Historic Win: On Tuesday, Paulette Jordan won the Democratic nomination in Idaho’s governor’s race, bringing her one step closer to becoming the nation’s first Native American governor.

-Written by Taylor Hosking (@Taylor__Hosking), Lena Felton (@lenakfelton), and Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Today in 5 Lines Virginia Senator Mark Warner announced his support for President Trump’s pick for CIA director, Gina Haspel, after she sent him a letter clarifying that, in hindsight, the agency’s “enhanced interrogation program is not one the CIA should have undertaken.” Haspel now likely has enough votes to be confirmed for the position. The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the recent violence in Gaza. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said she believes Israel exercised “restraint” in Monday’s clashes with protesters, adding that the unrest was not caused by the relocation of the U.S. embassy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lifted a hiring freeze put in place by his predecessor at the State Department, Rex Tillerson, allowing it to fill various key positions. The Trump administration is reportedly considering using military bases to house migrant children. The Obama administration also used bases to shelter children during the 2014 child-migrant crisis. The Races We’re Watching Voters in Idaho, Nebraska, Oregon, and Pennsylvania will select nominees for House, Senate, and gubernatorial races in their states’ primary elections. We’ll be monitoring several races in Pennsylvania, where the state Supreme Court replaced a Republican gerrymander with a new congressional map that is much more favorable to Democrats. Drip, Drip, Drip: Bill Clinton was able to slow the flow of leaks coming out of his White House in his second year in office, but those methods won’t necessarily work for Trump. (David A. Graham).

The relocation sparked protests in Gaza, where at least 50 people have been killed by Israeli gunfire, according to Palestinian officials. First Lady Melania Trump underwent a procedure to treat a “benign kidney condition” and is expected to remain at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the rest of the week, according to a statement from her office. The Supreme Court struck down a federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting. The family of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he is currently being treated for pancreatic cancer, and recently had surgery to remove a tumor from his pancreas. President Trump defended his recent push to ease up on the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE. The company “buys a big percentage of individual parts of U.S. companies” and is part of a larger trade deal with China, the president said on Twitter. Today on The Atlantic At the Core of the Conflict: The real dispute between the Israelis and Palestinians is a cycle of denial, writes Yossi Klein Halevi: “The Palestinian national movement denies Israel’s legitimacy, and Israel in turn denies the Palestinians’ national sovereignty.” Curiouser and Curiouser: The special counsel’s interest in more obscure figures shows that the Russia probe is more expansive than it seems. (Natasha Bertrand) Start Snitching: Communities of color are actually disproportionately likely to report crimes, writes Ibram X. Kendi. (Kate Nocera and Lissandra Villa, BuzzFeed) Too Big to Govern? (The New York Times) He Said He Would Do This: Unlike past presidents, Trump kept his promise to move the American embassy to Jerusalem.

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey), Taylor Hosking (@Taylor__Hosking), and Lena Felton (@lenakfelton) Today in 5 Lines President Trump outlined a plan to lower prescription-drug prices by cutting out the middleman and encouraging market competition, but opted not to change rules restricting the federal government from negotiating drug prices directly with drug manufacturers. In a memo to employees, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant “was a serious misjudgment.” The company hired Cohen on a one-year contract for $50,000 per month in early 2017. In a wide-ranging interview with NPR, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly offered his thoughts on a number of the administration’s policy decisions, and said he has a close relationship with Trump. A 14-year-old male is in custody after he allegedly shot another student in the arm at Highland High School in Palmdale, California, said the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. White House official Kelly Sadler apologized to Meghan McCain, Senator John McCain’s daughter, after reports that she mocked the senator’s brain-cancer diagnosis. Today on The Atlantic The Bitter Truth: Conor Friedersdorf argues that President Trump is betraying one of his key campaign promises: He’s not draining the swamp; he’s only enriching it. A Promise Democrats Don’t Know How to Keep: Progressives want to create a jobs guarantee—but they’re facing “a trillion-dollar logistical puzzle, wrapped in a politically fraught stimulus effort, inside an experimental economic enigma,” writes Annie Lowrey. The Art of the Small Lie: How does President Trump keep getting away with lies? He simply keeps insisting that what he says is true. (David A. Graham) Assessing a New Threat: The escalation of hostilities between Iran and Israel has many on both sides of the conflict wondering: Is there war ahead?

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Today in 5 Lines Shortly after greeting three American prisoners just released from North Korea, President Trump announced that he will meet with Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore. The summit will be the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader. In an interview with NBC News, Vice President Mike Pence said he wants Special Counsel Robert Mueller to end his investigation: “In the interests of the country, I think it’s time to wrap it up,” he said. The Pentagon said that an investigation into the deaths of four American soldiers in Niger last year found a series of problems, but no sole reason for the ambush. After Iran fired an estimated 20 rockets at the Golan Heights, Israeli warplanes struck dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria. Trump and Pence will hold a rally in Elkhart, Indiana, Thursday evening to tout the recent tax cuts and encourage voters to support GOP Senate candidate Mike Braun. Today on The Atlantic A Muslim Among Israeli Settlers: Writer Wajahat Ali traveled to the West Bank to better understand the perspectives of Israeli Jews living in occupied territory. What Has Gotten Michael Cohen in So Much Trouble? : He tried—and failed—to emulate Donald Trump. (Charlie Mahtesian, Politico) Gatekeeper Mike: President Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, was denied a job at the White House.