memeorandum: Donald Trump moves towards imposing tariffs on steel imports (Shawn Donnan/Financial Times)

10:20 AM ET, April 21, 2017

Top Items:

Michael Crowley / Politico:

Trump wades into French elections — Two days before a French election that has Europe on edge, President Donald Trump weighed in Friday with a tweet that seemed to imply support for the controversial far-right populist Marine Le Pen. — Trump's Friday morning tweet responded to a shooting …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABC News, CNN, The Independent, Geller Report, Axios, The Daily Caller, New York Times, Business Insider, The Week, CBS New York, RT and Sputnik International

Anne Barnard / New York Times:

One Country's War Changed the World — ISTANBUL — The world seems awash in chaos and uncertainty, perhaps more so than at any point since the end of the Cold War. — Authoritarian-leaning leaders are on the rise, and liberal democracy itself seems under siege.

Kamel Daoud / New York Times:
The French Disconnection

Discussion: National Review

CNN:

Sources: US prepares charges to seek arrest of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange — Washington (CNN)US authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, US officials familiar with the matter tell CNN. — The Justice Department investigation of Assange …

Washington Post:
Justice Dept. debating charges against WikiLeaks members in revelations of diplomatic, CIA materials

Discussion: Associated Press, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Politico, KTLA, Medium, RedState, Occupy Democrats, The Week, The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and RT

Adam Goldman / New York Times:
Justice Department Weighs Charges Against Julian Assange

Discussion: Just Security

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Freed Egyptian American prisoner returns home following Trump intervention — An Egyptian American charity worker who was imprisoned in Cairo for three years and became the global face of Egypt's brutal crackdown on civil society returned home to the United States late Thursday …

Discussion: Politico, Geller Report, Hot Air, Axios, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Week, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Wire

James Hohmann / Washington Post: The Daily 202: What Trump's giving to charity — or lack thereof — foreshadowed about his presidency

New York Times:
American Aid Worker, Release Secured by Trump Officials, Leaves Egypt

Discussion: Althouse

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:

The Professional Class Strikes Back — Notes from realignment: A solid Republican district becomes the site of a Democratic resurgence. In the first round of a special election a thirty-something unknown outperforms Hillary Clinton's 2016 margin. A runoff looms, but the lesson to draw from this result is clear.

Discussion: The Federalist and naked capitalism

Elana Schor / Politico:
DNC rally with anti-abortion candidate fuels backlash

Discussion: National Review, The Resurgent, Washington Free Beacon, LifeNews.com, RedState, MichelleMalkin.com and Rewire

Scott Detrow / NPR:
Bernie Sanders Defends Campaigning For Anti-Abortion Rights Democrat

Discussion: The Hill, Shakesville, Washington Free Beacon and The Atlantic

Brian Beutler / New Republic:
The Democrats' Existential Crisis Won't Resolve Itself

Discussion: The Week, NBC News, The Hill and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Joe Pompeo / Politico:

Emails show O'Reilly lawyers' last-ditch effort to save his job — The day before Bill O'Reilly was cut loose from Fox News after 20 years with the network, his handlers appeared to believe they had at least one more card to pull that might help save his job in the midst …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Financial Times, New York Times, Business Insider, New York Magazine, Mediaite, RedState, Politicus USA, Media Matters for America and Refinery29, more at Mediagazer »

Frank Schaeffer:

Conservative Sexual Abuse Anyone? What's The “Conservative” Response Been to the Rash of Fox News-Sexual Predators? Silence. — When I grew up in the evangelical ghetto good manners about all things sexual were the gold standard of both my evangelical upbringing and our ideas about what it meant to be a conservative.

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Times

Miranda Green / CNN:
Former Fox News contributor Palin reacts to O'Reilly's exit

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., The Week, Media Matters for America and CBS Philly, more at Mediagazer »

Young America's Foundation:

YAF to Berkeley: Honor First Amendment or Face Litigation — Late Thursday night, Young America's Foundation put UC-Berkeley on notice that their attempts to deny the First Amendment rights of students will not be tolerated any longer. — In a letter to Berkeley's Vice Chancellor Stephen Sutton …

Discussion: Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit and Berkeleyside

Veronica Rocha / Los Angeles Times:
UC Berkeley reverses decision to cancel Ann Coulter visit

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Magazine, JONATHAN TURLEY, Daily Wire, twitchy.com, The Daily Californian and Washington Times

New York Times:
Berkeley Reschedules Coulter, but She Vows to Speak on Original Date

Discussion: RealClearPolitics, Hot Air, Townhall.com, The Gateway Pundit, Red Alert Politics and TheBlaze

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

How Trump Blew Up the Conservative Media — Months before Donald Trump blew up American politics with his surprise win in November, he did the same thing to the conservative media. Through much of the campaign, two very different media moguls with colliding visions for the Republican Party vied …

Discussion: Political Wire and Raw Story

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Mattis tells lawmakers Trump budget won't fully rebuild military: report — Defense Secretary James Mattis has privately cast doubt on President Trump's proposed Pentagon spending levels, telling members of Congress that the $603 billion request is not enough to fulfill Trump's vow to rebuild the military, CNN reported Friday.

Discussion: RedState

Jeremy Herb / CNN:
Sources: Mattis tells Hill Trump budget won't fully rebuild military

Discussion: Political Wire

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Trump Roars Again on Trade, Reviewing Steel and Chiding Canada — WASHINGTON — President Trump added a new name Thursday to the list of countries he accuses of preying on American workers and exploiting naïve American trade policies: Canada. — “What they've done to our dairy farm workers …

Shawn Donnan / Financial Times:
Donald Trump moves towards imposing tariffs on steel imports

Discussion: Political Wire and EconLog

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:

Yikes! New Behind-the-Scenes Book Brutalizes the Clinton Campaign — ‘Shattered,’ a campaign tell-all fueled by anonymous sources, outlines a generational political disaster — There is a critical scene in Shattered, the new behind-the-scenes campaign diary by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes …

Discussion: Instapundit

mcclatchy-newsroom:

Secret meeting at Mar-a-Lago raises questions about Colombia peace and Trump — BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA — President Donald Trump quietly met a pair of former Colombian presidents last weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, thrusting his administration into an ugly power struggle …

Discussion: Post On Politics, Raw Story and The Week

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

AG Jeff Sessions: Judges shouldn't ‘psychoanalyze’ Trump to see if executive orders are lawful — (CNN)Attorney General Jeff Sessions said this week that judges shouldn't “psychoanalyze” President Donald Trump when determining whether his executive orders are lawful.

Dan McLaughlin / National Review:

Repeal and Piecemeal: A Better Obamacare Strategy — Repeal Obamacare now. Here's why it would work. — House Republicans are reportedly ready to return any day now to health-insurance reform after the spectacular failure in late March of the American Health Care Act …

Discussion: The Daily Signal, New York Magazine, Hit & Run and Talking Points Memo

Mark Hensch / The Hill:

RNC raises record-setting $41.5M haul — The Republican National Committee (RNC) on Friday announced it raised $41.5 million in the first three months of 2017, its strongest-ever total for the first quarter following a presidential race. — “Our record-setting fundraising pace has been fueled …

Discussion: Politico

Dennis Romboy / KSL-TV:

Poll: Evan McMullin beats Sen. Orrin Hatch in head-to-head matchup — SALT LAKE CITY — Former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin would beat Sen. Orrin Hatch in a head-to-head matchup for the U.S. Senate, a new poll shows. — The Centrist Project, which is recruiting candidates …

Karin Matussek / Bloomberg:

Dortmund Bus Attacker Hoped to Profit From Share Slump — 28-year-old with German-Russian dual citizenship arrested — Prosecutors say man bought put options on Dortmund shares — In what seems like a plot from a James Bond movie, police arrested a man on suspicion he attacked the bus …

Discussion: NPR

Jake Sherman / Politico:

Chaffetz says ‘absolutely’ no scandal is forcing him out — Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz — who shocked the political establishment when he announced his retirement earlier this week — said that he has already started looking for post-congressional employment, and hopes to serve on boards …

Discussion: Mother Jones, USA Today, Washington Free Beacon, The Hill, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Joe.My.God. and The Week

CNN:

French police officer killed, Champs-Elysees in Paris closed, CNN affiliate says — Paris (CNN)One police officer and an attacker have been killed in a shooting in Paris on Thursday, the French Interior Ministry said. — A car stopped at 102 Champs-Elysees, in front of a police van, ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet said.

Discussion: The Guardian, Breitbart, New York Times, Reuters, Business Insider, RT, Daily Express, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Wire, France 24, ITV, ABC News, Bearing Arms, TheBlaze, RedState, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo and IJR

CNNMoney:

Crisis-ridden Venezuela gave $500K to Trump inauguration — Why Venezuelans are protesting — Venezuela faces shortages of food, water, medicine, electricity and money. — But its state-run oil company — through a subsidiary — donated $500,000 to President Trump's inauguration committee on December 22, 2016.

Discussion: KFOR-TV and Hot Air