memeorandum: Officials: Iran deal survives, Trump will waive sanctions (ABC News)

1:50 PM ET, January 12, 2018

Top Items:

Trump attacks protections for immigrants from ‘shithole’ countries in Oval Office meeting — President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers Thursday in the Oval Office when they floated restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part …

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, Politicus USA, Daily Mail, Vox, Politico, CNBC, NBC News, The Daily Beast, National Review, Raw Story, Hit & Run, IJR, Mediaite, Reuters, Daily Wire, ThinkProgress, Religion News Service, Fox News Insider, CNN, The Federalist, Washington Free Beacon, Shareblue Media, Bloomberg, New York Daily News, Mother Jones, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, Washington Times, FOX6Now.com, 89.3 KPCC, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, CBS New York, myfox8.com, The Hill, The Atlantic, USA Today, CBS News, The Week, The Daily Caller, Wall Street Journal, RedState, Faithwire, NPR, Talking Points Memo, ImmigrationProf Blog, New York Magazine, CBS Boston, Hullabaloo, Times LIVE, Breitbart, Splinter, The Root, NewsBusters, America's Voice, Outside the Beltway, AOL, HuffPost, New Republic, Portland Mercury, Mashable, The Guardian, Axios, twitchy.com, Shakesville, The Resurgent, Roll Call, The Poke, FOX59, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Townhall.com, The Last Tradition, Why Evolution Is True, Weekly Standard, Notes, Informed Comment and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »

Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:

'This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. The president of the United States is racist.' — It's not every day you hear a television news anchor unabashedly calling a public figure “racist.” Broadcast journalists tend to tread lightly when describing racism, using terms such as “racially charged” or “racially tinged.”

Discussion: RedState, America's Voice, New York Times, Fox News Insider, Vox, CNN, CNBC and The Federalist

Adam Edelman / NBC News:

Trump denies Haiti slur amid fallout from ‘shithole’ comment — President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to deny he insulted Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries” but admitted he used “tough” language during a discussion about an immigration deal with lawmakers.

Post and Courier:

Sen. Tim Scott: Graham says reports of Trump's ‘shithole countries’ comment ‘basically accurate’ — U.S. Sen. Tim Scott said he talked to fellow South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham about hearing President Donald Trump's “shithole countries” comment and Graham confirmed to him the president said it.

Discussion: Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:

Transcript of Donald Trump Interview With The Wall Street Journal — President Donald Trump sat down for an interview Thursday morning with four reporters from The Wall Street Journal: Rebecca Ballhaus, Michael C. Bender, Peter Nicholas and Louise Radnofsky.

Discussion: Washington Post, New Republic, New York Times, Breitbart, AOL, CNBC, Reuters, Politico, Just Security, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, The Week, emptywheel, Axios and Mediaite

Washington Post:

‘Here is what my #shithole looks like’: African countries and Haiti react to Trump's remark … ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — President Trump's dismissal of Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as “shithole countries” whose inhabitants are not desirable for U.S. immigration shocked people around the world and provoked swift condemnation.

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, ThinkProgress, USA Today, Vox, Mother Jones, IJR, NPR, NewsBusters, The Daily Caller, Portland Mercury, Shareblue Media, Politicus USA, The Week and thecut

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

JUST when you thought things were calming, TRUMP's THURS was wild from wire to wire — POTUS says he won't go to UK embassy opening because of bad Obama deal, but BUSH cut the deal — DINA POWELL's going away party — DRIVING THE DAY — A HEADLINE TRUMP WON'T LIKE — “Obama …

Discussion: New York Times, Detroit Free Press and Axios

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

David Brooks Picked a Bad Week to Say Trump ‘Runs a Normal, Good Meeting’ — Four days ago, David Brooks broke the news in the New York Times that President Trump is actually a sober-minded and competent public servant. “People who go into the White House to have a meeting …

Discussion: Fox News, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog and Politico

Christina Wilkie / CNBC:

Mar-a-Lago, Trump's exclusive club, reportedly hires more of its seasonal foreign workers from Haiti than it does from nearly any other country — President Donald Trump reportedly stunned lawmakers Thursday when he asked, “Why do we need more Haitians” in the United States

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Politico, Washington Post, Shareblue Media, The Hill and CNN

New York Times:

Trump Alarms Lawmakers With Disparaging Words for Haiti and Africa — WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday balked at an immigration deal that would include protections for people from Haiti and African countries, demanding to know at a White House meeting why he should accept immigrants from …

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
There's No Way Out — Last week, which brought the release …

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, The Guardian, Raw Story, Mashable, The Poke and Politico

Henrik Pryser Libell / New York Times:
From Norway to Haiti, Trump's Comments Stir Fresh Outrage

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Joe Scarborough / Washington Post:
There is nothing ‘professional’ about this president

Discussion: Townhall.com and CNN

Evens Sanon / Associated Press:
Haiti ‘shocked and outraged’ over reported Trump remarks

Discussion: IJR and The Week

Benjamin Freed / Washingtonian:
Washington Post: “When the President Says It, We'll Use It Verbatim”

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Los Angeles Times, Talking Points Memo, CNN, IJR, The Daily Caller, Shareblue Media, New York Times, AOL and CANNONFIRE

Donald Trump / Telegraph:

US ambassador to Panama resigns, saying he can no longer serve under Trump administration — US Ambassador to Panama John Feeley, a career diplomat and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, has resigned, telling the State Department he no longer feels able to serve President Donald Trump.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Axios

Jon Sharman / The Independent:
US ambassador to Panama resigns because he can ‘no longer work for Trump’

Discussion: The Daily Caller

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Trump has no nominees for 245 important jobs, including an ambassador to South Korea

Discussion: Politico, The Week, Wall Street Journal and Al Jazeera English

Thomas Frank / BuzzFeed:

Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers — A BuzzFeed News review of every sale of a Trump-branded condominium in the United States provides the first comprehensive look at how many went to unidentified buyers who paid cash, an indication of possible money laundering.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week and Political Wire

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:

How The Alt-Right — And Paul Ryan's Challenger — Coordinate To Fight The “Jewish Media” — When Steve Bannon, Breitbart, and other conservatives cut ties with far-right activist and congressional candidate Paul Nehlen, he turned to his private Twitter direct message group, CityRevoltVoteNehlen.

Discussion: twitchy.com

Raphael Satter / Associated Press:

Cybersecurity firm: US Senate in Russian hackers' crosshairs — PARIS (AP) — The same Russian government-aligned hackers who penetrated the Democratic Party have spent the past few months laying the groundwork for an espionage campaign against the U.S. Senate, a cybersecurity firm said Friday.

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

Feike Hacquebord / blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs …:

Update on Pawn Storm: New Targets and Politically Motivated Campaigns — In the second half of 2017 Pawn Storm, an extremely active espionage actor group, didn't shy away from continuing their brazen attacks. Usually, the group's attacks are not isolated incidents, and we can often relate …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, Tampa Bay Times and Wired

Nick Wingfield / New York Times:

Jeff Bezos Jumps Into ‘Dreamer’ Fight With Gift for Scholarships — SEATTLE — Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, on Friday injected himself into one of the most contentious political debates in the United States, announcing that he and his wife had donated $33 million to a college scholarship …

Discussion: Splinter and Politico

Gaby Pacheco / TheDream.Us:
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos to Fund 1,000 College Scholarships for Dreamers $33 million donation …

Discussion: CNNMoney, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Washington Post, IJR, Mashable and The Daily Caller

Linda Qiu / New York Times: These Claims About ‘Chain Migration’ Are Not Accurate

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Obama: Presidents need to watch their behavior — Barack Obama's advice on the presidency: Watch your behavior — because everyone else is watching it, and taking cues from it. — “One of the things that Michelle figured out, in some ways faster than I did — was part of your ability …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast: Obama to Letterman: No Sense of ‘Relief’ After Turning Presidency Over to Trump

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:
John Lewis: Trump administration ‘is a major setback’ for the nation, world

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Heather Stewart / The Guardian:

Donald Trump visit to London called off amid fears of mass protests — President will not now open new US embassy next month, with secretary of state Rex Tillerson likely to take his place … Donald Trump has backed off the idea of visiting Britain next month to open the new US embassy in London amid fears of mass protests.

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Mail, Politico, IJR, NBC News, Mashable, The Poke, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, The Atlantic, CNBC, The Week, New York Magazine, Associated Press, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post and CBS Baltimore

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Trump says he canceled trip to London

Discussion: ABC News, The Atlantic, Washington Post, The Guardian, Telegraph, IJR, CNBC and Al Jazeera English

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Time to Say It: Trump Is a Racist — When it comes to President Trump and race, there is a predictable cycle. He makes a remark that seems racist, and people engage in an extended debate about whether he is personally racist. His critics say he is. His defenders argue for an interpretation …

Glenn Greenwald / The Intercept:

The Same Democrats Who Denounce Donald Trump as a Lawless, Treasonous Authoritarian Just Voted to Give Him Vast Warrantless Spying Powers — Leading congressional Democrats have spent the last year relentlessly accusing Donald Trump of being controlled by or treasonously loyal to a hostile foreign power.

Discussion: Detroit Free Press and Splinter

John Hinderaker / Power Line: Who's Senile? — The Democrats are hysterically shrieking …

Mike Allen / Axios:

Fits and fitness: Trump gives his skeptics plenty of fodder — A new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll shows that 55% of Americans (and 54% of independents) think Trump's mental fitness is a legitimate issue. But this is as partisan as any other question, with most Republicans saying the questions are “unfair and politically motivated.”

Discussion: Political Wire