Top Items:
New York Times:
McMaster to Resign as National Security Adviser, and Will Be Replaced by John Bolton — WASHINGTON — Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the battle-tested Army officer tapped as President Trump's national security adviser last year to stabilize a turbulent foreign policy operation …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, FiveThirtyEight, Just Security, JustOneMinute, Vox, New York Magazine, The Week, The Root, Mother Jones, VICE News, Splinter, Politicus USA, Home Page Rotator, IJR, NBC News, National Review, Washington Free Beacon, Little Green Footballs, MelaniePhillips.com, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Joe.My.God. and Daily Kos
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Eliana Johnson / Politico:
McMaster firing upends plan to oust other top Trump officials — President Donald Trump's decision to abruptly fire national security adviser H.R. McMaster surprised senior White House aides who had been preparing a single statement announcing the departure of multiple top Trump officials …
Discussion:
The Hill, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Axios and Political Wire
Bloomberg:
Inside Trump's Snap Decision to Oust McMaster — McMaster Ousted Days After His Briefing to Trump on Putin Call — Trump names ex-U.S. envoy Bolton as national security adviser — President Donald Trump made a snap decision to oust H.R. McMaster as national security adviser …
Discussion:
Politico
Cory Bennett / Politico:
Bolton, McMaster present contrast on Russian hacking — John Bolton, President Donald Trump's pick to replace H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser, could bring a vastly different approach on Russia's election meddling to the White House. — In their public comments …
Discussion:
israpundit.org
NBC News:
Amid White House turmoil, Trump mused about life without a chief of staff — WASHINGTON — In the midst of a Cabinet shake-up and a possible staff upheaval, President Donald Trump considered firing his chief of staff this month and not naming a successor, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
Discussion:
RedState, Outside the Beltway, Politicus USA and Political Wire
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
It's Time to Panic Now — It's time to push the panic button. — John Bolton's appointment as national security adviser—a post that requires no Senate confirmation—puts the United States on a path to war. And it's fair to say President Donald Trump wants us on that path.
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“Now I'm F—ing Doing It My Way”: Jubilant and Self-Liberated, the President Prepares for War with Mueller — With John Dowd out, John Kelly and Ty Cobb marginalized, Joseph diGenova on board, and Marc Kasowitz possibly returning, the next battle comes into focus.
Discussion:
New York Times, Splinter, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story and RedState
Mark Davis / Townhall.com:
John Bolton: The Wisdom of This Choice Is Made Clear in the Panic of Liberals — With one presidential decision, America gained one of its boldest National Security Advisers, and lost one of its best cable news guests. — Roughly an hour after John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. …
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
How Trump finally pulled the trigger to oust McMaster — The reason John Kelly and White House communications officials insisted late last week that McMaster wasn't going anywhere for now — despite a WaPo story saying he was done — was because the president told them to say that.
Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
John Bolton, Trump's ultra-hawkish new national security adviser, explained — Bolton has recently called for war with both Iran and North Korea. — President Donald Trump finally jettisoned National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster on Thursday afternoon. His replacement is John Bolton …
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times, Bloomberg, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The Week, Daily Kos, The Atlantic, NPR, The Gateway Pundit, Politicus USA, New Republic, Axios, Breitbart, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, Hit & Run, Jamie Dupree - AJC, CBS New York, Mediaite, Raw Story, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, Fox News Insider, KFOR-TV and Daily Wire
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Bolton bombshell: the clashes to come
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Breitbart
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Nobody Is Left to Save the World From Trump Now
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
President Trump hires a talking head - again
Discussion:
Mediaite, The American Spectator and The Week
Bryan Bender / Politico:
Bolton pick underscores Trump's foreign policy confusion
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, CANNONFIRE and Axios
Khorri Atkinson / Axios:
China slaps reciprocal tariffs on U.S. imports
Discussion:
Bloomberg, One America News Network and ABC News
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
With Bolton, Trump Creates a Historically Hard-Line Foreign Policy Team
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Guardian, Daily Kos, NBC News and The Week
Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
Trump names former ambassador John Bolton as his new national security adviser
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Week and New York Times
The Daily Beast:
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Lone DNC Hacker’ Guccifer 2.0 Slipped Up and Revealed He Was a Russian Intelligence Officer … Guccifer 2.0, the “lone hacker” who took credit for providing WikiLeaks with stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee, was in fact an officer of Russia's military intelligence directorate …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, VICE News, emptywheel, Mother Jones, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, Mashable, Balloon Juice, RedState, Vox, Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »
Eli Watkins / CNN:
Karen McDougal tells CNN Trump tried to pay her after sex — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump once tried to offer Karen McDougal money after they had been intimate, the former Playboy model told Anderson Cooper Thursday in an exclusive interview on CNN. — “After we had been intimate …
Discussion:
thecut, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Law & Crime, Mashable, The Guardian, WGN-TV, The Week and Politicus USA
RELATED:
Eli Watkins / CNN:
McDougal says she was intimate with Trump ‘many dozens’ of times
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, CBS Pittsburgh, Daily Wire, Political Wire and American Prospect
Rachel Wolfe / Vox:
How to watch the 60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels
Discussion:
Washington Post, ABC News, CBS News and twitchy.com
BBC:
France hostage taking: ‘One dead’ in Trèbes supermarket — A gunman is believed to have killed at least one person during a hostage-taking at a supermarket in Trèbes, southern France. — Elite police have rushed to the Super U shop, and there are unconfirmed reports of another death.
Discussion:
The Week and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Phil Mattingly / CNN:
Idaho senator holds up bill over political rivalry with deceased governor — Congress facing government shutdown, yet again — (CNN)As Congress raced toward another spending deadline, most were watching Sen. Rand Paul's objections to a proposed spending plan.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and Conservative Review
RELATED:
Burgess Everett / Politico:
McConnell secures budget deal with ‘begging, pleading and cajoling’
Discussion:
ABC News, The Daily Caller, RedState, New York Magazine, Gizmodo and twitchy.com
Bloomberg:
Trump Fundraiser Offered to Help Lift Sanctions on Russian Firms — Elliott Broidy proposed work for clients of Moscow lawyer — Pre-inauguration discussions didn't lead to Broidy's hiring — Elliott Broidy, a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, offered last year to help …
The Guardian:
Our manifesto to fix America's gun laws — After the massacre at our high school, our lives have changed forever - so we're proposing these changes to halt mass shootings — by The editorial staff of the Eagle Eye … As a student publication, the Eagle Eye works to tell the stories of those who do not have a voice.
RELATED:
Matthew Dowd / ABC News:
Analysis: Will current leaders believe gun lobby fiction or the truth of youth?
Discussion:
Politico
Digby / Hullabaloo:
Stormy, Summer and Karen are the GOP's worst nightmares — Greg Sargent had a good piece this morning about how the Stormy Daniels hurricane might trip Trump up more than he realizes. It's a thought I've had as well: … It's impossible to know for sure whether women as a group will rise to the occasion.
Discussion:
New York Times
David Freedlander / Politico:
Sam Nunberg Is Still Talking — First, Sam Nunberg made plans to meet me for lunch, but canceled at the last minute. So now we've made plans for dinner at his favorite Vietnamese spot near his Upper East Side apartment, but when he arrives 20 minutes late, Nunberg says he has already eaten …
Katie Langin / Science:
Exclusive: 'I've never seen anything like it.' Video of mating deep-sea anglerfish stuns biologists — Anglerfish, with their menacing gape and dangling lure, are among the most curious inhabitants of the deep ocean. Scientists have hardly ever seen them alive in their natural environment.
Discussion:
Daily Mail and Gizmodo
Wall Street Journal:
John Dowd Resigns as Trump's Top Lawyer in Russia Probe — Departure comes after he called for end to special counsel's investigation — John Dowd, the lead lawyer representing President Donald Trump in the special counsel's Russia investigation, left the legal team on Thursday partly …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Zachary Cohen / CNN:
US dropped charges against Turkish bodyguards over DC brawl before Tillerson trip — Erdogan watches brawl outside Turkish embassy — Washington (CNN)The US has dropped charges against 11 of the 15 bodyguards for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who were indicted after a brawl …
Ian Duncan / Baltimore Sun:
16-year-old victim of Maryland school shooting to be taken off life support, family says — The 16-year-old victim of Tuesday's shooting at Great Mills High School will be taken off life support, her family announced Thursday night. — Jaelynn Willey was one of two students who were injured …
USA Today:
Protest outside Sacramento Kings arena after Stephon Clark shooting delays NBA game — Sacramento police released a body cam video of the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man they believed had a gun. He was carrying his cell phone. — A protest outside the Sacramento Kings' home arena …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Brian M. Rosenthal / New York Times:
De Blasio Donor Says He Steered Thousands in Bribes to Mayor's Campaigns — CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A Long Island restaurateur testified under oath on Thursday that he steered tens of thousands of dollars to Mayor Bill de Blasio's political campaigns in return for favorable treatment by the city.
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon
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