memeorandum: Need to reach Trump? Call Rhona. (Tara Palmeri/Politico)

2:50 PM ET, March 26, 2017

Top Items:

Germany slams ‘intimidating’ £300bn White House bill — Donald Trump handed the German chancellor Angela Merkel a bill — thought to be for more than £300bn — for money her country “owed” Nato for defending it when they met last weekend, German government sources have revealed.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Political Wire and Axios

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

How a secret Freedom Caucus pact brought down Obamacare repeal — Speaker Paul Ryan and House leaders had been toiling behind closed doors for weeks assembling their Obamacare repeal bill as suspicion on the far-right simmered to a boil. — So on March 7, just hours after Ryan unveiled …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Hill

Katherine Faulders / ABC News:

Trump shifts blame to conservatives on health care bill failure — President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Sunday morning to call out the House Freedom Caucus, saying Democrats are “smiling” because the group of conservative lawmakers' opposition to the Republican proposal on health care “saved” Obamacare and Planned Parenthood.

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News, Associated Press, Politico, RedState, Washington Post, New York Times, CBS New York, IJR and NBC News

Fox News:

Priebus on ObamaCare overhaul: It's time for GOP to ‘start governing’ — White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Sunday acknowledged that Democrats are not the culprits in Republicans' failed ObamaCare overhaul bill, saying it's time for the GOP to “start governing.”

Discussion: New York Magazine and Washington Post

Andrea Ruth / RedState: Lo & Behold: A Replica of the Successful 2015 Obamacare Repeal Is Languishing in Committee

Trent Baker / Breitbart:
Judge Jeanine: ‘Paul Ryan Needs to Step Down’

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Hot Air, Politico, Daily Wire and The Last Tradition

Hollywood Reporter:
Trump Urges Followers to Watch Fox News Host Who Demands Paul Ryan Resign

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Shareblue, Mother Jones, Vox, RedState, Mashable, The Daily Caller, The FADER, The Gateway Pundit, BizPac Review and Political Wire

David Atkins / Washington Monthly:
A Weakened Trump Outsources Demand for Ryan Resignation to Fox News Host

Discussion: Breitbart, The Hill, zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml/*, ThinkProgress and Progress Pond

New York Times:
Paul Ryan Emerges From Health Care Defeat Badly Damaged

Discussion: CNBC

Krissah Thompson / Washington Post:

Two months out of office, Barack Obama is having a post-presidency like no other — The first cocktail party at Barack Obama's new office last month was certainly more casual than any he had hosted in recent years. The wine bore a random assortment of labels, as if assembled potluck-style.

Discussion: Axios

WLWT Digital / WLWT-TV:

Police: At least 15 shot, 1 fatally, at Cincinnati nightclub — News conference expected at 11 a.m. — CINCINNATI — A shooting that left one person dead and at least 14 others wounded stemmed from a conflict earlier in the day, Cincinnati police said.

Discussion: Fox News, ThinkProgress, Associated Press, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, BizPac Review, Bearing Arms and Mediaite

CNN:

Cincinnati nightclub shooting: One killed, 14 injured — (CNN)One person was killed and 14 injured in a shooting at a crowded hip-hop nightclub about 1 a.m. Sunday in Cincinnati. — Several victims are undergoing surgery, Cincinnati Police Sgt. Eric Franz told CNN.

Discussion: USA Today, The FADER, CBS New York, The Root, New York Magazine and IJR

Cameron Knight / Cincinnati.com: At least 14 shot, 1 killed at Cameo nightclub

Robert Draper / New York Times:

Trump vs. Congress: Now What? — After the president suffered his first defeat on Capitol Hill, can the White House still make good on its legislative promises? — On Monday, Jan. 9, less than two weeks before President Trump's inauguration, the House speaker, Paul Ryan …

Discussion: Axios and Mediaite

Richard Johnson / Page Six:

Shake up causes drama at Glenn Beck's TheBlaze — MORE FROM: … Tomi Lahren won't be appearing on Glenn Beck's multiplatform network, TheBlaze, anymore. — Sources say Lahren — who was suspended last week after flip-flopping on abortion and declaring herself pro-choice — has been banned permanently.

Discussion: Mediaite

The Daily Beast:
Report: Tomi Lahren ‘Banned Permanently’ From TheBlaze

Discussion: AOL

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Donald, This I Will Tell You — We've known each other a long time, so I think I can be blunt. — You know how you said at campaign rallies that you did not like being identified as a politician? — Don't worry. No one will ever mistake you for a politician.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Stan Collender / Forbes:

Passing Tax Reform Will Be As Difficult As Repealing Obamacare — As you switch your attention from this past week's spectacularly-failed effort by House Republicans and the Trump administration to repeal and replace Obamacare to the GOP's next big legislative priority of corporate tax reform …

Katherine Miller / BuzzFeed:

President Trump And America's National Nervous Breakdown — There's an old Sprite commercial, from the 1990s, in which it's a hot summer day on a city basketball court. Someone cracks open a Sprite, then jumps and cannonballs into the blacktop. It's OK, though, because the asphalt has become a swimming pool.

Joe Concha / The Hill:

Maher on London attack: You never hear ‘Merry Christmas’ before bomb goes off — HBO's Bill Maher clashed with his “Real Time” panel Friday in a heated debate over Islam's role in this week's London terror attack. — A man rammed a truck into people on Westminster Bridge before stabbing …

Discussion: RedState

Paulina Firozi / The Hill:

President travels again for meetings at Trump golf club in Va. — President Trump held a series of short meetings Sunday morning at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. — A reporter traveling with the president said Trump had three meetings and was heading back to the White House after a quick visit.

Discussion: Vox and Daily Kos

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Boris Epshteyn, Trump TV Surrogate, Is Leaving White House Job — Boris Epshteyn, an official in the White House press office who had a contentious relationship with television producers and was once a frequent presence on TV himself, is leaving his job, according to three people with knowledge of the move.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Washington Post and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Top Trump TV surrogate to leave high-profile post

Discussion: Mediaite, ABC News and Raw Story

Martin Chulov / The Guardian:

Mosul's children were shouting beneath the rubble. Nobody came — Coalition bombs buried more than a hundred people in the ruins of three houses and raised fresh questions about US rules of engagement … By the time rescuers finally arrived no one was left alive.

Discussion: emptywheel