memeorandum: France's Le Pen, Mélenchon present contrasting visions at campaign rallies (France 24)

7:30 AM ET, April 3, 2017

Top Items:

Donald Trump in his own words — The US president speaks to Lionel Barber, Gillian Tett and Demetri Sevastopulo — Read next … You are the master of ‘the art of the deal’ . . . can you cut a deal with Xi Jinping when you see him in Mar-a-Lago? — I have great respect for him.

Discussion: KTLA, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, Business Insider, NBC News, Politico, Raw Story, The Daily Beast and Axios

Financial Times:

Trump ready to tackle North Korea alone — FT exclusive — President says US will act unilaterally if China does not pressure Pyongyang … Donald Trump has warned that the US will take unilateral action to eliminate the nuclear threat from North Korea unless China increases pressure on the regime in Pyongyang.

Discussion: The Sun, Reuters, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, RT and The Daily Caller

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Trump will deal with Dems on healthcare 'if we don't get what we want'

Discussion: Financial Times, Talking Points Memo, RedState and Axios

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Jared Kushner Visits Iraq on Invitation From Joint Chiefs Chairman — Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, made a trip to Iraq over the weekend, visiting the country as the American military is aiding Iraqi forces in their brutal fight to retake Mosul from the Islamic State.

Discussion: Political Wire, RedState, New York Daily News, KTLA and Axios

Reuters:

ADVISORY: Story on Kushner visiting Iraq withdrawn — The story “Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner visits Iraq, U.S. official says”, the accompanying alert and subsequent update are wrong and are withdrawn. — CARACAS Venezuela's opposition lawmakers said on Sunday they will push for the removal …

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Week, IJR and New York Times

Associated Press:
Jared Kushner travels to Iraq

Discussion: ABC News

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Fox braces for fallout from Bill O'Reilly scandal — If Bill O'Reilly weren't the biggest star at Fox News, would he still have a job at Fox News? — Many media industry observers, reading about the harassment allegations that have cost O'Reilly and Fox millions of dollars, are saying he would not.

Discussion: Axios, BizPac Review, Raw Story, Media Matters for America, Politicus USA, Daily Kos, NewsHounds blog, Showbiz411, Mediaite, The Week and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Bill O'Reilly: An awful, awful man — As Fox News last year was plowing through the sexual harassment scandal involving now-former network chief Roger Ailes, King of Cable News Bill O'Reilly couldn't have been more dismissive of the victims. “In this country, every famous, powerful or wealthy person is a target.

Discussion: Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Media Matters for America

Mark Meckler / The Hill:

Why is Trump attacking the Freedom Caucus? Simple: They won, he lost — “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast,” President Donald Trump — wrote on Twitter Thursday. “We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!”

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story and BizPac Review

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:

Trump remains the center of attention, but he's increasingly isolated politically — For a second consecutive weekend, President Trump remained in Washington — tweeting in the morning, holding meetings at the White House and heading to his Virginia golf club on Sunday …

Discussion: Raw Story, IJR, The Daily Caller and NPR

Pam Key / Breitbart:

Schumer: Trump Should Ditch Gorsuch for a ‘Mainstream Nominee’ — On NBC's “Meet the Press,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said President Donald Trump should change his Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch for “a mainstream nominee” who can get 60 votes in the senate.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana:
Donnelly Announces Support for Gorsuch

Discussion: TheBlaze, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com and IJR

David Edwards / Raw Story:
'That's an absurd question': Mitch McConnell melts down as Chuck Todd grills him for blocking Merrick Garland

Discussion: TheBlaze

Elana Schor / Politico:
Donnelly becomes third Dem to back Gorsuch; Tester to vote no

Discussion: Axios

Noam Scheiber / New York Times:

How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers' Buttons — The secretive ride-hailing giant Uber rarely discusses internal matters in public. But in March, facing crises on multiple fronts, top officials convened a call for reporters to insist that Uber was changing its culture and would no longer tolerate “brilliant jerks.”

Discussion: Axios and naked capitalism, more at Techmeme »

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

It's 2004 All Over Again — Lately we've been hearing a lot about truth. It started with hysteria over “fake news” during the last election season. The “truth” narrative went into overdrive with President Trump's unexpected (by most) victory. Here are a few of the many instances that could be cited.

Discussion: The Guardian and Instapundit

Axios:

Hell Week looms for Republicans — On Capitol Hill, the last week of April is already being called Hell Week. That's when Congress returns from Easter break, with just days to prevent a government shutdown on April 29 — Day 100 of the Trump presidency. — This Friday, Trump is expected …

Discussion: Forbes

Kali Holloway / Salon:

Vacate Trump Tower: People want Melania Trump to be forced to leave New York City — A petition requests that Melania leave and save the city a ton of money — The exorbitant cost of keeping Melania and Barron Trump in their gold-plated penthouse in New York City has inspired thousands …

Mike Cernovich / Medium:

Susan Rice Requested Unmasking of Incoming Trump Administration Officials — Susan Rice, who served as the National Security Adviser under President Obama, has been identified as the official who requested unmasking of incoming Trump officials, Cernovich Media can exclusively report.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

France 24:

France's Le Pen, Mélenchon present contrasting visions at campaign rallies — French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen told a political rally on Sunday that the euro currency which she wants France to ditch was like a knife in the ribs of the French people.

Haroon Siddique / The Guardian:

Drone complaints soar as concerns grow over snooping — Complaints to police include claims of burglary ‘scoping’, mid-air near-misses and the smuggling of contraband into prisons … The number of incidents in the UK involving drones reported to police has increased more than twelve-fold over the past two years.

Discussion: The Verge

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:

Adam Schiff's Weak CNN Interview Supports Nunes, Trump Claims on Surveillance — Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union on Sunday morning that he “can't say whether anything was masked or unmasked properly” …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit