memeorandum: Scoop: Homeland security adviser pushes upbeat PR campaign for Puerto Rico (Mike Allen/Axios)

2:05 PM ET, October 1, 2017

Top Items:

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Puerto Rico is all our worst fears about Trump coming real — A real crisis comes and Trump can't handle it. — For the first nine months of his administration, observers have had occasion to wonder — and wonder, and wonder, and wonder — how exactly Donald Trump would manage to handle …

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Baldwin returns to SNL as confused Trump responding to Puerto Rico — Actor Alec Baldwin resumed his impersonation of President Trump on “Saturday Night Live” this week for the season premiere, appearing in the cold open as a confused Trump responding to the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.

Discussion: RedState

Mike Allen / Axios:

Scoop: Homeland security adviser pushes upbeat PR campaign for Puerto Rico — President Trump digs in this morning, tweeting: “We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico. Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast, The Hill, New York Magazine, Hullabaloo, Business Insider, ABC News, Mother Jones, IJR and Mediaite

Tobin Harshaw / Bloomberg:

No, Trump Didn't Botch the Puerto Rico Crisis — A Q&A with former Navy Captain Jerry Hendrix on smart preparations the White House and Pentagon made for the looming storm. — “Send in the cavalry.” — That was the advice retired Army General Russel Honore gave President Donald Trump …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Daily Caller and Instapundit

Brandon Carter / The Hill:

Trump to attend Presidents Cup golf tournament Sunday — President Trump updated his schedule on Sunday to attend the Presidents Cup Golf Tournament at Liberty National Golf Club. — Trump is scheduled to arrive at the course this afternoon and will participate in the trophy presentation …

Discussion: RedState and neo-neocon

Mike Allen / Axios:

Full text: Homeland security adviser's update on Puerto Rico — Here's the full text of an update on Puerto Rico that White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert sent his West Wing colleagues: — To inform you, I traveled with Brock to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on Monday …

Discussion: Mother Jones

Chris Gillette / Associated Press:
In hurricane-hit Puerto Rico, a stunning silence

Discussion: Axios and New York Times

ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript 10-1-17: Steven Mnuchin and Sen. Bernie Sanders

Discussion: Business Insider, Politico and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi

The Daily Caller:
EXCLUSIVE: Fellow Puerto Rico Mayor Rips San Juan Mayor — 'She's Not Participating In Any Meetings'

Discussion: The Last Tradition, Conservative News Today, CNN, The Last Refuge, Washington Post, IJR, NBC News, Business Insider, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Doug Ross, twitchy.com, Caribbean Business, PRI, National Review, Bangor Daily News and NewsBusters

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Neighboring mayor praises Trump, says San Juan mayor playing ‘politics,’ AWOL at meetings

Discussion: CNN

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Dem senator compares Trump to Marie Antoinette

Discussion: Politico and Raw Story

Streiff / RedState:
San Juan Mayor Has Time for T-Shirts and Television but No Time for FEMA

Discussion: Axios, No More Mister Nice Blog, ABC News and The Daily Caller

Lee Moran / HuffPost:
San Juan Mayor Responds To Trump's Attacks: ‘I Was Asking For Help’

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite, France 24, CBS Los Angeles, Conservative News Today, New York Times and CNBC, more at Mediagazer »

Jennifer Hansler / CNN:
Lin-Manuel Miranda to Trump: 'You're going straight to hell'

Discussion: RedState, NBC News, Refinery29, Mashable, Daily Kos, Conservative News Today, Althouse, Washington Post, ABC News, CANNONFIRE and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Justin Baragona / Mediaite: General Defends San Juan Mayor: She's ‘Living on a Cot...Hope the President Has a Good Day at Golf’

David Cohen / Politico:

Trump undercuts Tillerson's efforts on North Korea — President Donald Trump on Sunday seemed to undercut his own secretary of state and and escalate the ongoing nuclear crisis with North Korea, tweeting that Rex Tillerson's efforts to negotiate with Kim Jong Un's regime were essentially useless.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Washington Post:

Trump signed presidential directive ordering actions to pressure North Korea — Early in his administration, President Trump signed a directive outlining a strategy of pressure against North Korea that involved actions across a broad spectrum of government agencies and led to the use …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Week

Eli Watkins / CNN:

Kasich hints at leaving GOP if it's not ‘fixed’ — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich said on CNN's “State of the Union” Sunday that a time could come when he no longer supports the Republican Party. — “If the party can't be fixed, Jake, then I'm not going to be able to support the party.

Graydon Carter / Vanity Fair:

Graydon Carter Remembers S.I. Newhouse, Jr., the Magazine Visionary Who Modernized Condé Nast — S.I. Newhouse, Jr., the Chairman Emeritus of Condé Nast, died today in New York, the city he was born in and the one that gave foundation to the empire he built.

Jonathan Kandell / New York Times:
S.I. Newhouse Jr., Who Turned Condé Nast Into a Magazine Powerhouse, Dies at 89

Discussion: New York Magazine and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

David Remnick / New Yorker:
Samuel I. Newhouse, Jr., the Longtime Owner of The New Yorker and Chairman of Condé Nast, Has Died at Eighty-Nine

Discussion: WTVR-TV

Caroline Orr / Shareblue:

“Pretty safe bet”: Former national security adviser warns Kushner compromised by foreign intel — NSA officials say Jared Kushner's use of personal email likely made him a target of foreign intelligence services. — The National Security Agency warned top Trump administration officials …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, NPR and Political Wire

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:

Column Time's up: As CHIP expires unrenewed, Congress blows a chance to save healthcare for 9 million children — Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price voted twice against expanding CHIP as a George state legislator. — Advocates for children's health started worrying months ago …

Stan Collender / Forbes:

Trump Tax Cut Already In Trouble — Don't believe the unrestrained enthusiasm coming from the White House and congressional leaders: The tax cut they announced last Wednesday is already in trouble and isn't going to be enacted quickly. — Of course the party line coming from the Trump administration …

New York Times:

At Trial, a Focus on the Facts, Not the Politics, of Benghazi — WASHINGTON — Almost from the moment that Islamist militants overran the American consulate and assaulted a C.I.A. annex in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012, politics consumed the deadly attacks.