memeorandum: Trump's Honeymoon With China Ends as Dialogue Turns Frosty (Bloomberg)

1:25 PM ET, July 20, 2017

Top Items:

Mueller Expands Probe to Trump Business Transactions — Special counsel examines dealings of Kushner, Manafort, Trump — Trump has warned Mueller against going beyond Russia in probe — The U.S. special counsel investigating possible ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia …

New York Times:

In Interview, Trump Expresses Anger at Sessions and Comey, and Warns Mueller — WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he never would have appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had he known Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation that has dogged …

Discussion: The Hill, Mother Jones, Axios, Washington Monthly, RedState, Politico, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Fox News, Above the Law, JustOneMinute, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Resurgent, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, NPR, Daily Wire, IJR, The National Interest, Associated Press, Vox, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard, ABC News, Geller Report, The Week, Hullabaloo, CANNONFIRE, Conservative News Today, Just Security, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawfare, Washington Free Beacon, The American Conservative, AOL, BuzzFeed, Little Green Footballs, The Last Refuge, ThinkProgress, The Atlantic, The Root, Common Dreams, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNBC, Infowars, TheBlaze, Politicus USA, Joe.My.God., The Last Tradition, Power Line, Fusion, Balloon Juice, The Guardian, Suburban Guerrilla … and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Excerpts From The Times's Interview With Trump — President Trump spoke on Wednesday with three New York Times reporters — Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman — in an exclusive interview in the Oval Office. Also in attendance was Hope Hicks, a White House spokeswoman.

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Donald Trump: L'état, C'est Moi — In his bizarre New York Times interview, Donald Trump expresses his characteristic assortment of fever-dream assertions. The president believes Hillary Clinton “was totally opposed to any sanctions for Russia,” that a properly amortized health-insurance plan …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Salon, Vox, Washington Post, IJR and AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …

Bwittes / Lawfare:

The President vs. Federal Law Enforcement: Trump Attacks Everyone — President Trump enters the White House (@POTUS) — President Trump yesterday issued a stunning vote of no-confidence in basically everyone currently in a leadership position in the Justice Department, the FBI …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Business Insider, IJR, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Daily Wire

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Sen. Paul backs Trump's frustration with Sessions' recusal

Discussion: ABC News and WWAY-TV

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Trump goes off-script and fumes about Sessions and Russia probe

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Hill, Washington Post, New York Magazine, IJR, The Week, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, Joe.My.God., ABC News and The Last Tradition

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Sessions: No plans to resign after Trump criticism

Discussion: New York Times, Axios, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Washington Post, Feeds, Raw Story and IJR

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
The Note: Trump's bombshell interview drops on his 6-month mark

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump and Macron: From White Knuckles to ‘He Loves Holding My Hand’

Discussion: AOL

Eli Watkins / CNN:
Trump says he wouldn't have picked Sessions if he knew he'd recuse himself

Discussion: Vox, Axios, vice, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, Raw Story, IJR, Conservative News Today, The Daily Caller, Politico, NPR, RedState, Mediaite, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice and Washington Free Beacon

New York Times:

Inspiring Little Fear in Senators, Trump Struggles to Sell Health Bill — WASHINGTON — President Trump thought he could sell balky Republican senators like Ron Johnson of Wisconsin on the Senate health care bill through pleasantries, cajoling and, ultimately, some Oval Office muscle.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mediaite, Raw Story, Politicus USA, The Week, Politico, ThinkProgress and twitchy.com

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Republicans lament an agenda in ‘quicksand’ — Sen. David Perdue persuaded Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week to scrap two weeks of August recess to advance President Donald Trump's agenda. But since then, the GOP's Obamacare repeal effort has almost entirely collapsed …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Raw Story and New York Magazine

Dylan Scott / Vox:
A clear guide to what the hell is going on with the Senate health care bill

Discussion: Politico

Danielle Kurtzleben / NPR:
Fact Check: Trump's Confusing Remarks To Senate Republicans On Health Care

Discussion: WGBH News, Common Dreams and Politico

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Source: Senate leaders to offer $200 billion to win over moderates

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg and The Nation

CNN:
As repeal and replace falters, more say GOP should abandon repeal plan

Discussion: RedState, The First Street Journal, Pirate's Cove, Infowars, The Week and Talking Points Memo

Dylan Scott / Vox:
Which is politically worse for Republicans — failing to pass this health bill or actually passing it?

Discussion: Townhall.com, Refinery29 and ABC News

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:

Team Trump Used Obamacare Money to Run PR Effort Against It … The Trump administration has spent taxpayer money meant to encourage enrollment in the Affordable Care Act on a public relations campaign aimed at methodically strangling it. — The effort, which involves a multi-pronged social media push …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios, New York Magazine and Mediaite

Bill Scher / Politico:
How Democrats Won the Healthcare War

Discussion: Bloomberg.com and Washington Free Beacon

Patt Morrison / Los Angeles Times:

Column Bill Nye on the terrifying ascendancy of American ‘dingbatitude’ — From the Emmy-winning “science guy on” the PBS children's television program to the lab-coat crusader who “saves the world” on Netflix, Bill Nye is a longtime science-is-entertaining educator, a onetime mechanical engineer and a perpetual science lover.

Discussion: TheBlaze, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon

Mandy Mayfield / Washington Examiner:
Bill Nye: Older people need to ‘die’ out before climate science can advance

Discussion: The Daily Caller and twitchy.com

Tori Whitley / NPR:
Want To Slow Global Warming? Researchers Look To Family Planning

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com, twitchy.com and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

CBO's Publications:

H.R. 1628, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017: An Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute — CBO and JCT estimate that enacting this legislation would reduce federal deficits by $420 billion over the coming decade and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law.

Discussion: Business Insider, CNBC, The Nevada Independent and The Daily Caller

Samantha Swindler / Oregonian:

IQ costs Oregon parents their kids, but is that fair? (Column) — Gallery: Redmond couple fights for custody of their children — The nursery in Amy Fabbrini and Eric Ziegler's home is filled with unread children's books and unworn baby clothes. A Winnie the Pooh blanket lies untouched inside …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Raw Story and Jezebel

U.S. Department of Justice:

AlphaBay, the Largest Online ‘Dark Market,’ Shut Down — ‘Dark Net’ Site Was Major Source of Fentanyl and Heroin, Linked to Overdose Deaths, and Used By Hundreds of Thousands of People to Buy and Sell Illegal Goods and Services Anonymously over the Internet

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Motherboard, New York Times, The Daily Caller and Engadget

CorpComm AG / Newsroom:
Massive blow to criminal Dark Web activities after globally coordinated operation

Discussion: Motherboard and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

One in eight people who voted for Trump having second thoughts - Reuters/Ipsos poll — 6 MIN READ — NEW YORK (Reuters) - About one in eight people who voted for President Donald Trump said they are not sure they would do so again after witnessing Trump's tumultuous first six months in office …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo and Instapundit

Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:

CBO: 22 million would lose coverage under Senate ObamaCare replacement — About 22 million people would lose health insurance coverage over the next decade under the most recent revision of the Senate's ObamaCare replacement bill, according to a new Congressional Budget Office analysis.

Discussion: Political Wire

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post: President Trump's first six months: The fact-check tally

New York Times:

Big German Bank, Key to Trump's Finances, Faces New Scrutiny — During the presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump pointed to his relationship with Deutsche Bank to counter reports that big banks were skeptical of doing business with him. — After a string of bankruptcies in his casino …

Discussion: Raw Story and Balloon Juice

Ira Madison III / The Daily Beast:

The ‘Game of Thrones’ Creators' Next Show Sounds Stupid as Hell … The takes are already rolling in on Confederate, a forthcoming HBO series from the showrunners of Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss — but all you really need to know is that this show sounds stupid as hell.

Discussion: NBC News and Raw Story

Hbo Pr / Medium:
HBO ANNOUNCES CONFEDERATE, A NEW DRAMA SERIES CREATED BY DAVID BENIOFF AND D.B. WEISS

Discussion: vice, New York Times, Fusion and Refinery29

Mike McIntire / New York Times:

Manafort Was in Debt to Pro-Russia Interests, Cyprus Records Show — Financial records filed last year in the secretive tax haven of Cyprus, where Paul J. Manafort kept bank accounts during his years working in Ukraine and investing with a Russian oligarch, indicate that he had been in debt …

Discussion: The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, CNBC, The Week, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Ashleydaysc / New York's PIX11:

Brooklyn family kicked off JetBlue flight speaks out — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Brooklyn family recently kicked off a JetBlue flight is squaring off with the airline, and giving their side of the story to PIX11 Thursday. — The family of five; including parents Tamir Raanan …

Steve Phillips / New York Times:

The Democratic Party's Billion-Dollar Mistake — The Democratic Party is at risk of repeating the billion-dollar blunder that helped create its devastating losses of 2016. With its obsessive focus on wooing voters who supported Donald Trump, it is neglecting the cornerstone of its coalition …