memeorandum: McCain: Trump ‘emboldened’ Assad with comments on US withdrawal from Syria (Eli Watkins/CNN)

7:40 AM ET, April 9, 2018

Top Items:

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

Trump's top national security spokesman to leave White House — National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton said Sunday that he plans to leave the White House — a move that will leave President Donald Trump without one of the earliest and sharpest defenders of his “America First” foreign policy.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, BPR, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, The Week and Mediaite

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

How Trumpworld is winging a trade war — When the president threatened China with $100 billion in new tariffs, there had hardly been any White House discussion. — What I'm hearing: There wasn't one single deliberative meeting in which senior officials sat down to debate the pros and cons of this historic threat.

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire and Raw Story

The Hill:

Trump national security spokesman to depart White House — National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton is leaving the White House, a senior White House official confirmed to The Hill on Sunday evening. — It is the latest move in a wide-ranging shakeup of President Trump

Lauren Meier / Axios: Top national security spokesman to leave the White House

Mike Allen / Axios:
Netanyahu couldn't convince Trump to rethink Syria policy

Discussion: Politico and The Week

Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:

Airstrikes hit Syria after deadly chemical attack, state TV reports — Syrian state TV and witnesses said late Sunday that airstrikes had hit a military airport near the city of Homs shortly after a suspected chemical attack that killed at least 40 people in a suburb of the capital city, Damascus, over the weekend.

mccain.senate.gov:

STATEMENT BY SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON CHEMICAL ATTACK IN SYRIA — Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on the chemical attack in Syria: — “President Trump last week signaled …

Discussion: BPR, AOL, The Daily Caller, HuffPost, Townhall and ABC News

Associated Press:

The Latest: Syrian news agency reports missile attack — BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the Syrian conflict (all times local): — Syria's state-run news agency says the military's air defenses have confronted a missile attack on air base in central Syria and shot down eight missiles.

Discussion: Mediaite

i24NEWS:
Strike on Syria air base kills 14, including Iranian forces: monitor

Discussion: New York Times, The Gateway Pundit and middleeastmonitor.com

Kathy Gilsinan / The Atlantic:
The Terrible Cost of Obama's Failure in Syria

Eli Watkins / CNN:
McCain: Trump ‘emboldened’ Assad with comments on US withdrawal from Syria

Discussion: The Week, KTLA, The American Conservative, NBC News, fox5sandiego.com, Talking Points Memo, , ThinkProgress, Washington Press and New York Times

Reuters:
Syria, Russia say Israeli war planes carried out strike on Syrian air base

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Joyce Karam / The National:
White House holds Syria meeting to discuss options

Discussion: AOL, The Daily Caller and Vox

USA Today:

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he's left Facebook over data collection — SAN FRANCISCO — Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told USA TODAY he's leaving Facebook out of growing concern for the carelessness with which Facebook and other Internet companies treat the private information of users.

Discussion: The Week and ThinkProgress, more at Techmeme »

Michelle Castillo / CNBC:
Facebook suspends another data analytics firm after CNBC discovers it was using tactics like Cambridge Analytica

Discussion: The Guardian, Reuters, Engadget, Mother Jones, Breitbart and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:
‘You Are the Product’: Targeted by Cambridge Analytica on Facebook

Discussion: The Week

William Alden / BuzzFeed: Palantir Had No Policy On Social Media Data Collection Prior To 2015

Esha Ray / New York Daily News:

Close friend of man killed in Trump Tower fire says President once called victim ‘crazy Jew’ — He died in the home he hated, which was owned by a man who apparently hated him. — Todd Brassner, a 67-year-old art dealer who lost his life Saturday in the Trump Tower fire …

Discussion: Raw Story, NY State of Politics, Daily Kos and ThinkProgress

Peter Mellado / Washington Press:
Reporters just uncovered a scandal that places Trump Tower fire death at Trump's feet

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post, IJR and New York Magazine

New York Times:
Art Collector and Bon Vivant Dies in Trump Tower Home He Couldn't Sell

Discussion: The Week, Mother Jones and BPR

Peter Baker / New York Times:

In John Bolton, Trump Finds a Fellow Political Blowtorch. Will Foreign Policy Burn? — WASHINGTON — Shortly after Ambassador John R. Bolton was sent to represent the United States at the United Nations, an institution he had long scorned as an anti-American citadel of corruption, he hosted President George W. Bush for a visit.

Discussion: Axios, Associated Press, CNN and The Daily Caller

Ginger Hervey / Politico:

Viktor Orbán celebrates (another) electoral victory — Hungary — Hungary's general election on Sunday saw Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's right-wing Fidesz party emerge with a landslide victory, expected to take 133 of the Hungarian parliament's 199 seats.

Discussion: 444 and One America News Network

Marc Santora / New York Times:
Hungary Election Gives Orban Big Majority, and Control of Constitution

Discussion: The Guardian and Politico

Abigail Hauslohner / Washington Post:

'I know I don't need it' — Fabian Rodriguez was cradling his new rifle when he stopped at one of the gun-show booths to purchase a $5 chicken fajita MRE. — The “Meal Ready to Eat” is a mainstay for troops on combat missions. But Rodriguez, a 28-year-old San Antonio native who sells auto paint …

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Sinclair allows critical ad to air, sandwiched between its defense — Ex-Sinclair news director: We had must-run pieces — Sinclair Broadcast Group has agreed to air a commercial from a liberal consumer watchdog that's critical of the broadcaster's actions. But there's a catch.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Bagni / providencejournal.com:
My Turn: Adam Bagni: Sinclair messes with R.I. landmark

Discussion: Splinter

David Freedlander / New York Magazine:

The Man Who Is Glitterbombing New York City Politics — We've met only a few hours before and already New York City's second-most powerful politician has told me about the moment he found out he was HIV positive, his former cocaine habit, the night he decided to get sober …

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Horror of Being Governed by ‘Fox & Friends’ — During the early days of the Obama administration, I did a few appearances on “Fox & Friends.” — The conversations were predictably shallow, tilted and exploitive. The hosts had a particular knack for asking the idiotic with chipper earnestness …

Discussion: Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

As Zuckerberg Prepares to Testify, Questions Grow Over How to Protect Data — Congress has been contemplating the best way to regulate social-media platforms. Few of the options are straightforward. — When Facebook Inc. FB -1.34% Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg testifies in Congress this week …

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Conservative pollster: ‘I think the Republicans are in deep trouble’ — Conservative pollster Frank Luntz said on Sunday that he believes Republicans are in danger of losing both chambers of Congress in this year's midterm elections. — “I think the Republicans are in deep trouble in the House and the Senate as well.

Discussion: Mediaite

Stan Collender / Forbes:

Trump Trillion Dollar Budget Deficits Officially Begin This Week — The new U.S. normal of $1 trillion or more annual federal budget deficits will officially begin this week when the Congressional Budget Office releases its economic and budget outlook report showing that the deficit …

Discussion: Instapundit and Axios

Bill Whitaker / CBS News:

When Russian hackers targeted the U.S. election infrastructure — Russian operatives launched a widespread cyberattack against state voting systems during the 2016 presidential election. Former officials say no votes were changed but an Election Day attack could have created chaos at the polls

Discussion: Raw Story

Susan B. Glasser / Politico:

Trump vs Putin? Time to Be ‘Scared’ — In an early morning tweet exactly one year and 77 days into his presidency, Donald Trump on Sunday finally criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin by name. — It took a chemical weapons attack in Syria by Putin's ally ("Animal Assad," …

Discussion: Raw Story

John Bresnahan / Politico:

The race to replace Paul Ryan is on — Two top members of Paul Ryan's leadership team, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise, have begun angling for his job in the event the speaker calls it quits after the election. — They're closely monitoring the moves …

Fred Hiatt / Washington Post:

We're in a battle to defend democracy — and Trump is on the wrong side … What if the West found itself “engaged in a fundamental contest between our free and open societies and closed and repressive systems” — and the U.S. president was on the wrong side? — This is not a hypothetical question.

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:

How Trump thrives in ‘news deserts’ — President Donald Trump's attacks on the mainstream media may be rooted in statistical reality: An extensive review of subscription data and election results shows that Trump outperformed the previous Republican nominee, Mitt Romney …