memeorandum: Puerto Rico is all our worst fears about Trump coming real (Matthew Yglesias/Vox)

4:40 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 …

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: Politico and Mother Jones

Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times:

In one Puerto Rican nursing home, a struggle to get power and keep patients alive — About 100 people died in the three days after the storm in the Lajas region, twice the normal rate. — Before Hurricane Maria struck, destroying their home and about 250 others in this southwestern coastal town …

Ingrid Arnesen / The Daily Beast:

Puerto Rican Troops Are Still Waiting for Orders While Residents Cry for Help … ROOSEVELT ROADS NAVAL STATION, Puerto Rico—Twenty-eight U.S. Army reservists answered the call of duty, left their families behind, and reported to an abandoned base on the eastern tip of the island.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Althouse

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

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

Discussion: Hullabaloo, ABC News, New York Magazine, Business Insider, IJR and Mediaite

Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Trump to attend Presidents Cup golf tournament Sunday

Discussion: RedState and neo-neocon

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
Trump calls San Juan mayor ‘ingrate’ in propaganda war over Puerto Rico relief

Discussion: Philly.com, Shareblue, Deadline and The Hill

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

Discussion: Axios and New York Times

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Trump sent 18 tweets on Puerto Rico on Saturday. And made things a whole lot worse

Discussion: RedState, Mashable, ABC News, AOL, The Daily Caller, Axios, Mediaite, France 24, Conservative News Today, Washington Post, CBS Los Angeles and IJR

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

Discussion: RedState and CNN

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

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, Business Insider, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and The Hill

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

Discussion: Townhall.com, Conservative News Today, No More Mister Nice Blog, RedState, The Last Tradition, The Last Refuge, Washington Post, CNN, HuffPost, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Business Insider, twitchy.com, Caribbean Business, National Review, NBC News, PRI, Bangor Daily News and Doug Ross

Krishnadev Calamur / The Atlantic:

Trump's Undermining of Rex Tillerson — President Trump's latest tweets on U.S. diplomacy with North Korea appear not only to undermine Rex Tillerson, his secretary of state, but also the nascent dialogue with Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs.

Discussion: RedState, New York Times, Vox, CNN and Washington Post

Dave Lawler / Axios:

Trump v. Trump admin on foreign policy — President Trump's public order to Secretary of State Tillerson to stop seeking dialogue with North Korea — just a day after Tillerson confirmed talks were taking place — follows a pattern noted by Tony Blinken, a top State Dept. official under Barack Obama, in a NY Times op-ed one month ago.

Discussion: Politico

Washington Post:
Trump signed presidential directive ordering actions to pressure North Korea

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Week

David Cohen / Politico:
Trump undercuts Tillerson's efforts on North Korea

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Caroline Orr / Shareblue:

“Pretty safe bet”: Former national security adviser warns Kushner compromised by foreign intel — The National Security Agency warned top Trump administration officials in a series of classified briefings that using their personal cell phones and emails could make them vulnerable to espionage …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Washington Examiner and NPR

David Montero / Los Angeles Times:

O.J. Simpson released from Nevada prison — O.J. Simpson signs documents at the Lovelock Correctional Center late Saturday. (Brooke Keast / Nevada Dept. of Corrections / AP) — Former football star O.J. Simpson was released from a Nevada prison early Sunday after serving nine years …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post and The Daily Caller

CNN:
O.J. Simpson walks out of Nevada prison after 9 years

Discussion: ABC News, IJR, The Week and twitchy.com

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 — Forty -eight years ago, Gardner Botsford, a longtime editor at this magazine, wrote an obituary and appreciation in these pages of his stepfather, Raoul Fleischmann …

Discussion: WTVR-TV

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 »

Graydon Carter / Vanity Fair: Graydon Carter Remembers S.I. Newhouse, Jr., the Magazine Visionary Who Modernized Condé Nast

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 …

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.

Discussion: Business Insider

ESPN:

NFL owners struggled to retain control after Trump's attacks, rise of player protests — As DeMaurice Smith drove Monday morning to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for a flight to his annual locker room meeting with the Buffalo Bills, his phone rang. It was Roger Goodell.

Discussion: East Bay Times and ProFootballTalk

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 …