memeorandum: Dow sheds 550 points after Trump says steel and aluminum tariffs coming next week (Fred Imbert/CNBC)

5:40 PM ET, March 1, 2018

Top Items:

Nicolle Wallace / NBC News:

White House preparing for McMaster exit as early as next month — WASHINGTON — The White House is preparing to replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser as early as next month in a move orchestrated by chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to five people familiar with the discussions.

Discussion: National Review, CNBC, New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and Washington Times

Tarini Parti / BuzzFeed:

As Trump Spirals, Many Of His Staffers Are Looking To Exit — Even for this chaotic administration, the last few weeks have taken a toll on President Donald Trump and his staff. A tragic mass shooting, big-name staff departures, and a series of scandals — all in the growing shadow …

Discussion: The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Raw Story, CNN, ABC News, CNBC, NBC News, Shakesville, Washington Press and Politicus USA, more at Mediagazer »

CBS News:

Hope Hicks' “white lies” testimony becomes a flashpoint for House Intel Committee — In a rare, on-the-record accounting of some of the House Intelligence committee's secret, closed-door proceedings, two members of the House Intelligence Committee explained to CBS News what led White House …

Discussion: Crooked Media, AOL, Daily Kos, Raw Story, FiveThirtyEight, CBS San Francisco, Political Wire and New York Times

Axios:

The wild wars within the Trump White House — After a crazy 24 hours, sources close to President Trump say he is in a bad place — mad as hell about the internal chaos and the sense that things are unraveling. — The big picture: Hope Hicks leaving is obviously a huge blow to him.

David Remnick / New Yorker:

Hope Against Hope — Hope Hicks is kidding herself if she thinks that her tenure in the Trump White House will be judged only for harmless, situational untruths. — Presidents are in the habit of lying—often with bloody consequences. The Bay of Pigs, the Gulf of Tonkin, Watergate …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Guardian, Politicus USA and Mediaite

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Trump's tariff war nudges Cohn toward White House exit

Discussion: ABC News and Raw Story

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:
The White House Didn't Break Hope Hicks Overnight

Discussion: Shareblue Media, CNN, CBS News, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog and Politico

Daily Mail:
Revealed: How Hope Hicks was ‘trapped’ …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg: Scaramucci Says He Fears John Kelly Will Thwart SkyBridge Sale

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
A telling anecdote about Trump and the opioid abuse crisis

Discussion: Axios and ABC News

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Senate Intelligence Leaders Say House G.O.P. Leaked a Senator's Texts — WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of private text messages between the Senate panel's top Democrat and a Russian-connected lawyer …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, AOL, Washington Press, Axios, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Balloon Juice

Joe Cunningham / RedState:
It's Time for Devin Nunes To Go - for Good

Discussion: Politico

NBC News:

Mueller eyes charges against Russians who stole, spread Democrats' emails — WASHINGTON — Special Counsel Robert Mueller is assembling a case for criminal charges against Russians who carried out the hacking and leaking of private information designed to hurt Democrats in the 2016 election …

Discussion: Political Wire and Raw Story

Ryan Goodman / Just Security:

Russia “Previewed” Plan to Disseminate Emails with Trump Campaign — A significant recent revelation in the Russia investigation has been largely overlooked in the rush of several breaking news stories over the past few days. A nugget of information is contained in the memo written …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Salon, Hullabaloo and Raw Story

Fred Imbert / CNBC:

Dow sheds 550 points after Trump says steel and aluminum tariffs coming next week — The Dow Jones industrial average traded more than 500 points lower after rising more than 150 points earlier in the day. — The U.S. will set tariffs of 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum, the president said.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Patrick Gillespie / CNNMoney:
Beer and cars could get more expensive because of Trump tariffs

Discussion: CNN, FOX6Now.com, Washington Post and FOX40

John Harwood / CNBC: With surprise tariffs, Trump rolls the dice with the US economy

Ana Swanson / New York Times:
Trump Plans Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum and Markets Slump

Discussion: Washington Post, CNBC, US News, Outside the Beltway, The American Spectator, NBC News, The Daily Caller, Axios, AOL, Breitbart, IJR, Reuters, InsideTrade Daily News and Political Wire

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump declares his trade war: targets steel, aluminum

Discussion: ABC News and Breitbart

CNBC:
Trade chaos at the White House: Tariff announcement now unlikely Thursday as Trump aides spar

Discussion: Bloomberg, Fox News, Vox, Washington Post, NBC News, Hot Air, USA Today, Infowars, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Guardian, NPR, Daily Wire and CBS Pittsburgh

Vicki Needham / The Hill:
Defying GOP, Trump to impose steep tariffs on steel, aluminum next week

Discussion: RedState, CNNMoney, USA Today, Washington Press, IJR, Toronto Star, Axios and Daily Kos

Pew Research Center:

1. Generations' party identification, midterm voting preferences, views of Trump — Millennial voters continue to have the highest proportion of independents of any generation. But when their partisan leanings are taken into account, they also are the most Democratic generation.

USA Today:

Voters vow to elect a Congress that stands up to Trump, poll shows — WASHINGTON — Americans are mad, and that is putting Republicans at risk. — A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds voters looking toward the midterm elections are overwhelmingly unhappy with the country's direction …

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Political Wire

Michael Dimock / Pew Research Center:

Defining generations: Where Millennials end and post-Millennials begin — For decades, Pew Research Center has been committed to measuring public attitudes on key issues and documenting differences in those attitudes across demographic groups. One lens often employed by researchers …

Discussion: Pew Research Center, Washington Post and The Outline

CNN:

See HUD's $31,000 mahogany dining set — Washington (CNN)A $31,000 dining set the Department of Housing and Urban Development purchased, which raised eyebrows when first reported Tuesday, includes a table, sideboard, breakfront — all in mahogany — and 10 mahogany chairs with a blue velvet finish …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, alicublog, ABC News, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Ben Carson Tries to Cancel $31,000 Dining Furniture Purchase for HUD Office

Discussion: The Root, NBC News, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and The Daily Beast

Rene Marsh / CNN:
Ben Carson says he wants to cancel $31,000 dining room furniture order

Discussion: Washington Post, The Real Deal New York, IJR and Splinter

Azam Ahmed / New York Times:

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico to Quit Amid Tense Relations Under Trump — MEXICO CITY — The United States ambassador to Mexico plans to resign from her post in May, according to a memo circulated on Thursday to embassy staff, the latest in a string of senior diplomatic departures from the region …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Axios, AOL, The Daily Caller, VICE News, Los Angeles Times and Daily Kos

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
U.S. ambassador to Mexico stepping down

Discussion: American Thinker

Mary Jordan / Washington Post:

Questions linger about how Melania Trump, a Slovenian model, scored ‘the Einstein visa’ — In 2000, Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump, began petitioning the government for the right to permanently reside in the United States under a program reserved for people with “extraordinary ability.”

Discussion: IJR, The White House, Washington Press, Axios, AOL and Political Wire

Andrew Roth / The Guardian:

Putin threatens US arms race with new missiles declaration — President says Russia has new line of nuclear-capable weapons that can breach US defences … Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia has developed and is testing a new line of strategic, nuclear-capable weapons that would be able …

Discussion: Defense One, BBC, TASS, Washington Post, The Diplomat, Motherboard, CBS Pittsburgh and Shakesville

Ray Sanchez / CNN:
Putin boasts military might with animation of Florida nuke strike

Discussion: Big Think, RedState and New York Magazine

Washington Post:

Jared Kushner's troubles include an impending $1.2 billion company debt … In December 2016, Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to Donald Trump's presidential transition, was busy helping shape the new administration. But Trump's son-in-law also had another pressing concern …

Discussion: Raw Story, Vox, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Daily Kos

New York Times:
Kushner's Business Got Loans from Companies After White House Meetings

Wall Street Journal:

Russian Meddling on Social Media Targeted U.S. Energy Industry, Report Says — Posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were designed to influence energy policy, lawmakers say — A Russian-backed propaganda group used social media in an attempt to disrupt the U.S. energy industry …

Discussion: Axios

Wall Street Journal:
Exxon Abandons Russian Projects Brokered by Tillerson

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:

Meet The ‘Experts’ Kobach Is Using To Defend His Voter Fraud Claims In Court — Next week, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will go to federal court to defend a voting restriction that he has for years tried to implement in his state. — To help Kobach make his case …

Discussion: Raw Story

Associated Press:

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen charged over IS photos — PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors filed preliminary charges Thursday against far-right leader Marine Le Pen for tweeting brutal images of Islamic State violence, in a new blow to a woman long seen as the face of Europe's anti-immigrant populism.

Discussion: The Local, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and Outside the Beltway

Christina Wilkie / CNBC:

Dark money group America First Policies is running a pro-Trump polling operation. Here is an inside look at its secretive work — America First Policies, a nonprofit group with close ties to President Donald Trump, has hired Trump's pollsters to conduct a wide range of political polling and research.

Associated Press:

AP-NORC Poll: Most Americans say Trump is racist — WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half of Americans, including large majorities of blacks and Hispanics, think President Donald Trump is a racist. More than half think his policies have made things worse for Hispanics and Muslims …

Discussion: Washington Post, Splinter, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Politicus USA, Jezebel and Axios

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Fights Worth Having — For my money, the best op-ed published in The Times this week was Mona Charen's Feb. 25 barn-burner, “I'm Glad I Got Booed at CPAC.” Charen is a movement conservative who worked for Nancy and Ronald Reagan and is a longtime contributor to National Review.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Vox and Weekly Standard