memeorandum: How Donald Trump seized the mantle of hope and change (Daniel Allott/Washington Examiner)

9:00 AM ET, May 23, 2017

Top Items:

Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence — President Trump asked two of the nation's top intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign …

CNN:

Trump asked DNI, NSA to deny evidence of Russia collusion — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump called two top intelligence community figures to request that they deny in public any evidence of collusion between his campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 election …

Discussion: Just Security, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA and Political Wire

Austin Wright / Politico:

Chaffetz postpones Wednesday hearing after speaking with Comey — House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz on Monday said he will postpone a hearing scheduled for Wednesday after speaking with former FBI Director James Comey, who had been invited to testify. — “Spoke with Comey.

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News, Daily Wire, Daily Kos, Sputnik International and Mediaite

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Burr: Flynn could be held in contempt — Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr is not ruling out holding Michael Flynn in contempt of Congress as President Donald Trump's former national security adviser continues to stonewall lawmakers. — Flynn's lawyer informed …

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, Political Wire, The Week, Hullabaloo, Townhall.com, Refinery29, Washington Post, KTLA, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story and Patterico's Pontifications

CNN:
First on CNN: Mueller briefed on secret Comey memos, source says

Discussion: The Last Tradition

New York Times:
Michael Flynn Misled Pentagon About Russia Ties, Letter Says

Discussion: The Atlantic, CNN, Daily Wire, NPR, Mediaite, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Washington Free Beacon, Common Dreams, BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, Associated Press and HuffPost

Eli Watkins / CNN:
Chris Christie: I warned Trump about Flynn

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week, Axios, Political Wire, Mediaite and IJR

New York Times:

Ariana Grande Manchester Concert Ends in Explosion, Panic and Death — MANCHESTER, England — An explosion that may have been a suicide bombing killed at least 19 people on Monday night and wounded 59 others at an Ariana Grande concert filled with adoring adolescent fans, in what the police were treating as a terrorist attack.

CNBC:

19 dead in possible suicide blast at Ariana Grande UK concert — At least 19 people were killed and about 50 others were injured in a suspected suicide bombing Monday night after an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in England, authorities said. — Greater Manchester Police said the incident was being treated as terrorism.

CNN:

Manchester Arena attack: ISIS claims blast that killed 22 at Ariana Grande concert — Manchester, England (CNN)At least 22 people, including children, have been killed in a blast at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, in the deadliest terror attack on British soil since the 2005 London bombings.

BBC:

Manchester Arena blast: 19 dead and about 50 hurt — Nineteen people have been killed and about 50 injured in a suspected terror attack at Manchester Arena. — Police were called to reports of an explosion at the venue at about 22:35 BST following a pop concert by the US singer Ariana Grande.

Discussion: BBC, The Times of Israel, CNN, The Daily Caller, Reuters, and that's the way it was, The Gateway Pundit, NPR, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, Mashable and Politicus USA

The Guardian:
Second Manchester bomb victim named as eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos

Discussion: The Resurgent, The Times of Israel, Infowars, RT, Conservative News Today and Fusion

Daily Mail:
ISIS claim responsibility for suicide bomb attack that killed 22 including children and parents …

Discussion: Fox News, Conservative News Today, Washington Post, Hot Air, The Independent, Sky News, Patterico's Pontifications, twitchy.com, Blazing Cat Fur, The Last Tradition and Weasel Zippers

Helena Horton / Telegraph:
Eight-year-old confirmed dead after Manchester attack at Ariana Grande concert

Discussion: Fusion

The Guardian:
Manchester Arena: police confirm fatalities after explosion at Ariana Grande concert - live

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Daily Caller, Power Line, Infowars, Refinery29, The Week, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and men

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Palestinians welcome Trump's talk of peace but offer lessons in two-state demands — BETHLEHEM, West Bank — President Trump traveled to this West Bank city Tuesday to say he would do “everything I can” to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, even as he confronted seemingly …

Discussion: The Week

Alayna Treene / Axios:

Trump's foreign trip, day 4: Highlights and schedule — It's day four of President Trump's first foreign trip . He kicked it off with a short trip to Bethlehem, where he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, a key foreign policy objective of his administration.

Discussion: ABC News and Politico

Annie Karni / Politico:
Trump promises solidarity with U.K. against ‘evil loser’ terrorists

Discussion: Axios

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:
Trump Admin Declares Jerusalem Part of Israel in Major Policy Shift

Discussion: Althouse and Geller Report

The Times of Israel:
Trump deplores ‘evil losers’ who bombed Manchester concert

Discussion: Breitbart and Weasel Zippers

Karma Allen / ABC News:
Trump calls out ‘evil losers’ behind deadly Manchester blast

Discussion: Axios

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Fox News staffers ‘disgusted’ at network's promotion of Seth Rich conspiracy theory — July 2016: DNC staffer Seth Rich fatally shot — Fox News staffers expressed frustration on Monday that on-air personalities at their network like prime time host Sean Hannity are continuing to peddle …

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, The Resurgent and Mediaite

The Daily Beast:

Fox News Staffers ‘Embarrassed’ by Hannity's Conspiracy Theory Crusade … Fox News staffers are growing increasingly dismayed as network star Sean Hannity and others continue to promote the unfounded conspiracy theory that Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer was murdered last year for talking to WikiLeaks.

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Mediaite, The Week, Washington Post, Media Matters for America and Hot Air

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed: How One Pro-Trump Site Keeps A Debunked Conspiracy Theory Alive

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Key Senate Republican offers dim outlook for Trump budget — (R-Texas) warned on Monday that President Trump's budget may be a non-stater on Capitol Hill, noting lawmakers routinely craft their own legislation. — Cornyn made the comment after he was asked whether a proposed cut to Medicaid in Trump's budget was too steep.

Discussion: New York Times, The Week, ABC News and Politicus USA

Lawrence H. Summers / Washington Post:
Larry Summers: Trump's budget is simply ludicrous

Discussion: Vox

Joel Achenbach / Washington Post:
Trump budget seeks huge cuts to disease prevention and medical research departments

Discussion: Vox, Slate and Daily Wire

Megan McArdle / Bloomberg:

What a Conservative Sees From Inside Trump's Washington — Republicans wish all that bad news was fake. But no, it's real: The administration is destroying itself. — The conservative voters who elected Donald Trump seem to feel especially betrayed when those who document his failures and violations are fellow conservatives.

Avi Selk / Washington Post:

A belligerent man in a Trump hat was kicked off a flight as a crowd chanted: ‘Lock him up!’ — Like some bizarre parody of a Trump rally, a belligerent man in a “Make America Great Again” hat was booted off a plane in Shanghai Sunday — defiantly waving as a crowd of passengers jeered in the terminal: “Lock him up!

Discussion: Sputnik International, Gothamist, CBS Denver and AOL

Anushay Hossain / CNN:

The ugly truth behind Saudi Arabia's love for Melania Trump — Anushay Hossain is a writer and media personality based in Washington. For more, visit AnushaysPoint.com. The views expressed are her own. — (CNN)Donald Trump's first major trip overseas may be fraught with diplomatic land mines …

Discussion: Raw Story and AOL

Penny Starr / Breitbart:

AP Hires Leftist Activist as Freelancer to Sneak Into Closed Press NH GOP Event to Attack KellyAnne Conway — A freelancer for the Associated Press has drawn the ire of the GOP in New Hampshire after working her way into a “closed press” fundraiser last week and then falsely reporting …

Rachel Stoltzfoos / The Daily Caller:

MSNBC Ruthlessly Cuts To Trump Coverage As Manchester Victims Scream In Background [VIDEO] — MSNBC's Chris Matthews ruthlessly cut away from video of people screaming after a terror attack Monday night in order to hone in on “shocking news” from Washington regarding President Trump and old accusations …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Trump eyeing Lewandowski, Bossie as crisis managers — The White House is looking to wall off the scandals threatening to overtake the president's agenda by building a separate crisis management operation. — President Donald Trump personally reached out to two of his former campaign aides …

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story, Political Wire and Balloon Juice

Bloomberg:

Trump Proposes Selling Off Half the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve — U.S. stockpile contains 687.7 million barrels of crude — Proposal Includes Alaska Oil Leasing, Gulf Royalties Repeal — The White House plan to trim the national debt includes selling off half of the nation's emergency oil stockpile …

Discussion: Political Wire

Angela Hart / Sacramento Bee:

The price tag on universal health care is in, and it's bigger than California's budget — It would cost $400 billion per year to remake California's health insurance marketplace and create a publicly funded universal heath care system, according to a state financial analysis released Monday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Vox, MattBruenig, Los Angeles Times, Power Line, Hot Air, twitchy.com and Instapundit

Borys Kit / Hollywood Reporter:

Zack Snyder Steps Down From ‘Justice League’ to Deal With Family Tragedy — The filmmaker's daughter died by suicide in March, prompting him to take a break from work and hire Joss Whedon to finish the Warner Bros. superhero pic: “I've decided to take a step back from the movie to be with my family …

Discussion: New York Times, Mashable, Gizmodo and The Verge

Monica Lewinsky / New York Times:

Roger Ailes's Dream Was My Nightmare — This is not another obituary for Roger Ailes, who died last week a year after being ousted at Fox News. It is, I hope, instead an obituary for the culture he purveyed — a culture that affected me profoundly and personally.

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, The Week, TheBlaze and Raw Story

Sbrown / globaldevelopment:

What the Mariel Boatlift of Cuban Refugees Can Teach Us about the Economics of Immigration: An Explainer and a Revelation — Do immigrants from poor countries hurt native workers? A study by an influential immigration economist at Harvard University recently found that a famous flood …

Discussion: Equitable Growth

Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner:

DNC reports worst April of fundraising since 2009 — The Democratic National Committee reported its worst April of fundraising since 2009, according to Federal Election Commission records released Monday. — The DNC reported taking in $4.7 million last month.