memeorandum: Job growth slows to a six-year low in Trump's first year (Steve Benen/MSNBC)

11:30 AM ET, January 5, 2018

Top Items:

Sarah Rumpf / RedState:

Furious Trump Fires Off Tweet With New Nickname for Bannon — President Donald Trump seems absolutely furious about the upcoming Michael Wolff book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, and he's making sure everyone knows it, firing off another tweet not only attacking the book …

Mike Allen / Axios:

The Wolff lines on Trump that ring unambiguously true — There are definitely parts of Michael Wolff's “Fire and Fury” that are wrong, sloppy, or betray off-the-record confidence. But there are two things he gets absolutely right, even in the eyes of White House officials …

Discussion: RedState, Shareblue Media, New York Times, Politicus USA, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Raw Story and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Mercer issues rare public rebuke of former ally Bannon — Stephen K. Bannon's main financial backer is formally cutting ties with the former Trump adviser. — In a new statement Thursday, billionaire conservative donor Rebekah Mercer said that she has not spoken to Bannon …

Discussion: Washington Times, Business Insider, Raw Story, Daily Kos, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Week, RedState, New York Post, BuzzFeed, Breitbart, Splinter, Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Everyone in Trumpworld Knows He's an Idiot — One of the more alarming anecdotes in “Fire and Fury,” Michael Wolff's incendiary new book about Donald Trump's White House, involves the firing of James Comey, former director of the F.B.I. It's not Trump's motives that are scary …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, KTLA, Business Insider, CNNMoney, The FADER, AOL, The Week, EW.com, The Nation, Hollywood Reporter, ABC News, Mashable, The Mahablog, IJR, Fox News, TheBlaze, Mediaite and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Joe Scarborough / Washington Post:

I asked Trump a blunt question: Do you read? — Michael Wolff's tantalizing takedown of President Trump's White House is so tightly packed with tales of political convulsion and personal betrayal that official Washington will be buzzing off its sugar high for weeks.

Discussion: The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, The Atlantic and AOL

Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:

Michael Wolff says he ‘absolutely’ spoke to President Trump for his tell-all book — Michael Wolff, the author of a new tell-all book about President Trump' first year in office, said he stands by “absolutely everything” he has written and has notes and recordings to back up what was published …

Discussion: Axios, Politico, NPR, IJR, Breitbart, RedState and bizpacreview.com

Patterico / RedState:

Report: Sloppy Steve Was JUST ABOUT to Dispute Those Quotes... According to a report from the Hill, Breitbart News Chairman “Sloppy Steve” Bannon was totally on the verge yesterday of issuing a statement disputing those quotes about President Donald J. Trump and his family.

Discussion: Politico

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Bannon allies say statement praising Trump Jr. was spiked after Trump went nuclear — Breitbart News chairman Stephen Bannon on Wednesday was about to issue a statement praising Donald Trump Jr. — and disputing his quotes in a book from Michael Wolff, but the statement was spiked after President Trump

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, TODAY.com, The Week, CANNONFIRE and The Gateway Pundit

Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:
Bannon Banished for Telling Truths About Trump as MAGA Monsters Turn on Each Other

Discussion: Washington Post, bizpacreview.com, Mediaite, RedState, Raw Story and The Week

John Cassidy / New Yorker:
Michael Wolff's Withering Portrait of President Donald Trump

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Post

Margaret Carlson / The Daily Beast:
The Worst Thing Donald Trump Says in Michael Wolff's Book

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:
Led by the Mercers, Bannon's Allies Abandon Him

Discussion: New York Magazine and Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:
Breitbart Owners Debate Ousting Bannon Amid Trump Feud

Discussion: RedState, Daily Mail, Patterico's Pontifications, Hot Air, The Guardian, Occidental Dissent, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, The Root, Daily Wire, CNNMoney, IJR, Mediaite, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com, more at Mediagazer »

Mike Allen / Axios:
Trump's legal threats backfire as Wolff book surges

Discussion: RedState, Politico and The Week

Adam Edelman / NBC News:
‘Fire and Fury’ author Wolff calls Trump least credible person who has ever walked on earth

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Weekly Standard, CNBC, The Daily Caller and The Guardian

Jack Shafer / Politico:
Trump Got Wolffed

Discussion: Washington Post, grubstreet, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Beast, Business Insider and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan S. Tobin / National Review: Judge Trump by His Record, Not Gossip

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Michael Wolff, fabulist

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post and Business Insider

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Obstruction Inquiry Shows Trump's Struggle to Keep Grip on Russia Investigation — WASHINGTON — President Trump gave firm instructions in March to the White House's top lawyer: stop the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from recusing himself in the Justice Department's investigation into whether …

John Solomon / The Hill:

FBI launches new Clinton Foundation investigation — The Justice Department has launched a new inquiry into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged in any pay-to-play politics or other illegal activities while Hillary Clinton — served as Secretary of State, law enforcement officials and a witness tells The Hill.

CNN:

Ryan backed Nunes in spat with Justice Dept. over Russia documents, sources say — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)House Speaker Paul Ryan backed his fellow congressional Republican, House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, during a meeting over the Russia investigation Wednesday …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, The Week and Shareblue Media

Sara Carter / Sara A. Carter:

Mueller's “Pit Bull” Andrew Weissmann under scrutiny as Rosenstein agrees to turn over documents to Nunes — The Department of Justice has agreed to turn over all documents related to the controversial dossier to the House Intelligence Committee after four months of wrangling and legal threats ended …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Why Trump and Sessions are now in a heap of legal trouble

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Washington Examiner, Washington Press, Raw Story and RedState

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Schiff: The case that Trump obstructed justice just got stronger

Discussion: Politico, Washington Press, Vox, Mediaite and Shareblue Media

CNN:
Feds actively investigating Clinton Foundation

Discussion: bizpacreview.com and Daily Wire

Eric Tucker / Associated Press:
AP Source: Trump had lawyer urge AG against Russia recusal

Discussion: New York Magazine

Natalie Kitroeff / New York Times:

U.S. Added 148,000 Jobs in December; Unemployment at 4.1% — The Labor Department released the latest figures on hiring and unemployment, with another gain capping a year of increasing opportunities for American workers. — The Numbers — • 148,000 jobs were added last month …

Discussion: Politico, Washington Press, Outside the Beltway, The Stream, Althouse and Wall Street Journal

Akin Oyedele / Business Insider: Jobs report misses expectations, unemployment rate holds at 17-year low

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Job growth slows to a six-year low in Trump's first year

Discussion: New Republic, The Atlantic, Breitbart and Daily Kos

Matthew Gertz / Politico:

I've Studied the Trump-Fox Feedback Loop for Months. It's Crazier Than You Think. — On Tuesday night, I, along with many Americans, was shocked when President Donald Trump tweeted that his “Nuclear Button” is “much bigger & more powerful” than North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's.

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Raw Story

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:

Trump Administration Seeks $18 Billion Over Decade to Expand Border Wall — Expansion would cover about half of the entire southwest border, as described in document sent to senators — WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is asking Congress for nearly $18 billion to construct more than 700 miles …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller and New York Times

Anita Kumar / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Tillis no longer involved in key Senate negotiations on Dreamers

Discussion: Breitbart

Ted Hesson / Politico: Inside the faltering Dreamer talks

Lori Pilger / Lincoln Journal Star:

FBI accuses white supremacist of terror attack on Amtrak train in rural Nebraska — The FBI says an armed 26-year-old Missouri man who breached a secured area to stop an Amtrak train in southwest Nebraska in October has links to a white supremacist group and expressed an interest in …

Discussion: The Root, Shakesville, Splinter, FOX2now.com and Raw Story

Andrew J. Nelson / Omaha World-Herald:
FBI: Man with white supremacist ties stopped train in rural Nebraska with intent to harm passengers

Discussion: New Republic

Apple Support:

About speculative execution vulnerabilities in ARM-based and Intel CPUs — Security researchers have recently uncovered security issues known by two names, Meltdown and Spectre. These issues apply to all modern processors and affect nearly all computing devices and operating systems.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CNBC, Breitbart, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Axios, BGR, The Week, NBC News, Mashable, NPR, KTLA, MacRumors, The Verge, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac and Vox, more at Techmeme »

Daphne Merkin / New York Times:

Publicly, We Say #MeToo. Privately, We Have Misgivings. — You can be sure that this weekend at the Golden Globes, Hollywood celebrities, not exactly known for their independent thinking, will turn the red carpet into a #MeToo moment replete with designer duds.

Discussion: Notes

Saeed Shah / Wall Street Journal:

Pakistan Foreign Minister No Longer Sees an Alliance With U.S. — America has turned Islamabad into a ‘whipping boy,’ its foreign minister said, after the U.S. suspended security aid to the country — ISLAMABAD—The U.S. failed to behave as an ally and turned Islamabad into a “whipping boy” …

Discussion: Defense One

Washington Post:
Pakistan official accuses U.S. of betrayal after suspension of military aid

Discussion: New York Times

ESPN:

For Kraft, Brady and Belichick, is this the beginning of the end? — THE PROBLEM WITH living your life under the spotlight is that the camera captures only the public eruption, not the months of silent anger. On Dec. 3, when the New England Patriots played the Buffalo Bills …

Discussion: AOL, USA Today, The Daily Caller and The Big Lead