memeorandum: A Week of Policy Surprises Leaves Even Trump's Supporters Confused (Peter Baker/New York Times)

12:35 AM ET, March 3, 2018

Top Items:

Trump was angry and ‘unglued’ when he started a trade war, officials say — WASHINGTON — With global markets shaken by President Donald Trump's surprise decision to impose strict tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the president went into battle mode on Friday: “Trade wars are good, and easy to win,” he wrote on Twitter.

Bloomberg:

Scaramucci Is on White House ‘Exclusion List’ Blocking Visits — White House official had denied his claim he was on blacklist — Statement confirms he is on list requiring special approval — Anthony Scaramucci, President Donald Trump's former communications director …

Discussion: Axios, AOL, Raw Story, Political Wire and Mediaite

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“She's in Immense Personal Jeopardy”: Even for Hope Hicks, the West Wing Got Too Hot — “Emotionally overwhelmed” by the headlines over Rob Porter, manipulated by Kelly, and interviewed by Mueller and Congress, the president's surrogate daughter is leaving the Trump bunker at one of his toughest moments.

Discussion: Vox, New York Times and Bloomberg

Veronica Stracqualursi / CNN:

NYT: Trump asking John Kelly for help in pushing Ivanka, Kushner out of White House — NYT: Trump using Kelly to push out Ivanka — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump is asking chief of staff John Kelly for help in pushing his daughter and son-in-law out of the White House, The New York Times reports.

Discussion: Breitbart, Politicus USA, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Press, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Axios, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Splinter, Outside the Beltway, Politico, thecut, Weekly Standard and AOL

CNN: Scaramucci says he's on list of banned White House staffers

CBS News:
John Kelly's comment about God punishing him with chief of staff job aggravated Trump

Discussion: Political Wire

John Santucci / ABC News:
Jared Kushner entanglements increasingly concern President Trump: Sources

Discussion: Politico, Towleroad and Washington Post

CNN:
The great unraveling: Trump's allies are really worried about him

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Booman Tribune, Washington Monthly, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

Days before the election, Stormy Daniels threatened to cancel deal to keep alleged affair with Trump secret … The 2016 election was less than a month away, and Donald Trump's attorney had blown the deadline for paying Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the future president.

Discussion: Washington Press and Mediaite

New York Times:

E.U. Leader Threatens to Retaliate With Tariffs on Bourbon and Bluejeans — BERLIN — The European Union will hit back at the heart of the United States, slapping tariffs on products like Harley-Davidsons, Kentucky bourbon and bluejeans, if President Trump goes ahead with a plan to place tariffs …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, CNNMoney, Politico, Washington Press, New York Magazine, Townhall.com, Associated Press, Mashable, KXAN-TV, Raw Story, CBS News, The Atlantic and Macleans.ca

CNBC: Electrolux puts $250 million US investment on hold over Trump's tariff hike

Lauren Hirsch / CNBC:
Wilbur Ross needs another prop, Campbell says tariffs will make soup cans more expensive

Discussion: Raw Story, Vox, Shareblue Media, Mother Jones and Daily Kos

Philip Blenkinsop / Reuters:
Europe targets U.S. bourbon, bikes, blue jeans for trade riposte

Discussion: Mother Jones

Bart Jansen / USA Today:

The number of Delta Airlines passengers who bought tickets with NRA discount: 13 — How many airline passengers does it take to kill a $40 million tax break for Delta Air Lines? 13. — The Georgia legislature removed a jet-fuel tax break from a larger tax package Thursday.

Discussion: CNNMoney, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, KFOR-TV, Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Beast, Orlando Weekly, The Atlantic, Joe.My.God., IJR, New York Magazine and Washington Post

Mary Hanbury / Business Insider:
Delta hit with a sea of angry customers after it bans NRA discounts

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, American Digest, AOL, The Root, Breitbart and Balloon Juice

Leslie Josephs / CNBC: Delta CEO says, ‘Our values are not for sale,’ after Georgia lawmakers drop tax break

NBC News:

Mueller team asking if Kushner foreign business ties influenced Trump policy — WASHINGTON — Federal investigators are scrutinizing whether any of Jared Kushner's business discussions with foreigners during the presidential transition later shaped White House policies in ways designed …

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, NBC News, CNBC, Politicus USA, Raw Story and Mediaite

The Intercept:
Jared Kushner's Real-Estate Firm Sought Money Directly From Qatar Government Weeks Before Blockade

Discussion: RedState, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, Bleeding Cool, Towleroad, Raw Story, Shareblue Media, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Monthly, The Mahablog, The Atlantic, Washington Press, Axios, Politico, Media Matters for America, Daily Kos and Breitbart

Associated Press:

Roy Moore pleads for money, saying resources ‘depleted’ — MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore is pleading for money to pay for his legal bills as he fights a lawsuit against a woman who says he molested her when she was 14. — Moore said on a campaign Facebook …

Discussion: Political Wire

Judge Roy Moore for U.S. Senate:

First, I wanted to write you to say thank you most sincerely for your support and prayers for my campaign for the U. S. Senate. Your financial contributions helped me fight over $50 million dollars from Washington insiders who did not want me to bring the truth about God and our Constitution to Washington D. C.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Washington Post, Mediaite, Forward Progressives and Raw Story

Peter Baker / New York Times:

A Week of Policy Surprises Leaves Even Trump's Supporters Confused — WASHINGTON — Looking around the table at the White House one day this week, President Trump chided fellow Republicans for kowtowing to the National Rifle Association. “You're afraid of the N.R.A., right?” he challenged one senator.

Discussion: NPR, CNBC, Outside the Beltway, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Splinter and CNN

Harry Enten / CNN:
Why Trump is far more likely to cave on gun control than on free trade

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:
Trump's Tariffs Are Especially Ominous

Discussion: National Review

TMZ.com:

Rick Ross Hospitalized, Machine Keeping Him Alive — Rick Ross has been hooked up to a machine that's taking over the function of his heart and lungs ... according to sources connected to the music mogul. — Rick is in a Miami area hospital getting treatment in the cardio unit …

Discussion: WSVN-TV, AOL, The FADER, The Blast, WIS-TV and CBS Miami

TMZ.com:
Rick Ross — Hospitalized ... Possible Pneumonia

Discussion: The Blast, AOL, WSVN-TV and The Daily Caller

Bloomberg:

Trump Swaps His Beloved Burgers for Salads and Soups in New Diet — Two weeks since he's been seen eating burger, one person says — But bacon was still on the menu at breakfast this week — Donald Trump has traded cheeseburgers for salads in the presidential diet — at least some of the time.

Discussion: Politico, AOL, Washington Press, Mediaite, thecut and Political Wire

The Daily Beast:

Veteran Affairs Secretary David Shulkin ‘Extremely Paranoid’ Ahead of Damning New Investigation, Sources Say … Embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is likely to be the subject of another damaging investigation as early as next week, one that could prove politically fatal.

Discussion: AOL, Raw Story, Axios, Political Wire and Daily Wire

KCTV:

Child called racial slur, spat on by firefighter at Overland Park Hooters — Police say a racial slur was hurled at a child at a Hooters off Metcalf Avenue. — KCTV5 News spoke to a witness who was at the restaurant and he said he was dumbfounded by a statement the firefighter made to police.

Discussion: The Root

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
Kansas racist insults and spits on black preschooler at Hooters — and then tells cops 'It's OK, I'm a fireman'

Discussion: Washington Press

Margery A. Beck / Associated Press:

APNewsBreak: Questions surround Trump's 1st wall contract — OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A tiny Nebraska startup awarded the first border wall construction project under President Donald Trump is the offshoot of a construction firm that was sued repeatedly for failing to pay subcontractors and accused …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Washington Press

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:

House Race in Pennsylvania May Turn on Trump Voters' Regrets — BURGETTSTOWN, Pa. — The steel mill where Patti Stroud's husband worked for 26 years shut down a few weeks before Election Day in 2016. Though she is a registered Democrat, Ms. Stroud had long since drifted away from the party over its liberal social policies.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Post

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Trump confidant dumped millions in steel-related stock last week — Billionaire investor and longtime Trump confidant Carl Icahn dumped $31.3 million of stock in a company heavily dependent on steel last week, just days before Trump announced plans to impose steep tariffs on steel imports.

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, CNBC, Hullabaloo, Washington Press, Axios, NPR, Mediaite, New York Magazine, InsideTrade Daily News, Splinter, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Joe.My.God., Reuters and The Guardian

Marisa Kendall / Mercury News:

Sunnyvale home shatters record with enormous price tag — Check out the other stories on Uber Health and the Northern California storm. — SUNNYVALE — The small, unassuming home in the Cherry Chase neighborhood was on the market just two days before it sold for $2 million, a whopping $550,000 over its asking price.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller and Althouse

Carlos Garcia / TheBlaze:

Condoleezza Rice stuns ‘The View’ audience with amazing story about 2nd Amendment rights — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered an amazing story from her childhood to explain to the more liberal hosts of “The View” why she supports Second Amendment rights. — Here's what she said

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Washington Post:

Trump pushes Republicans to oppose crucial New York-New Jersey tunnel project … President Trump is pushing congressional Republicans not to fund a crucial infrastructure project — a long-delayed plan to build a new rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey — setting up a confrontation …

Discussion: Axios and New York Times

Angel Au-Yeung / Forbes:

Lebanese Billionaire's Social App Becomes The Most Downloaded In 18 Countries — As Facebook continues to face scrutiny about its possible role in influencing the U.S. presidential election, a different kind of social network, Vero, has jumped the top of the charts, thrusting …

Sam Levin / The Guardian:

Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds — Majority of drivers make less than minimum wage and many end up losing money, according to study published by MIT … Uber and Lyft drivers in the US make a median profit of $3.37 per hour before taxes …

Discussion: NPR, TechCrunch, CityLab, Daily Mail, Gizmodo, Raw Story and Splinter

David Dayen / The Intercept:

Instead of Taking on Gun Control, Democrats are Teaming with Republicans for a Stealth Attack on Wall Street Reform — In mid-January, Citigroup executives held a conference call with reporters about the bank's fourth quarter 2017 earnings. The discussion turned to an obscure congressional bill …

Discussion: CNBC

FOX31 Denver:

Expelled Rep. Lebsock changed party prior to vote, giving State House seat to GOP — DENVER — Democratic state Rep. Steve Lebsock was expelled from the House in a 52 - 9 vote Friday, following allegations of sexual misconduct by five women. — The effort, led by Democrats, was successful in barring Lebsock from his position.

Discussion: Daily Wire and The Daily Caller

Alex Griswold / Washington Free Beacon:

Women's March Co-Chair Cites Anti-Semite to Prove She's Not an Anti-Semite — A Women's March organizer who came under fire this week for attending a sermon by rabid anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan responded to criticism by tweeting a defense from a rapper who shared Farrakhan's bigoted views.

Discussion: National Review and Daily Wire