memeorandum: Trump: I'd “love” to be interviewed by Mueller (Alayna Treene/Axios)

12:30 PM ET, May 4, 2018

Top Items:

Eileen Sullivan / New York Times:

Trump Undercuts Giuliani About Payments to Stormy Daniels — WASHINGTON — President Trump undercut his attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, on Friday, and said the former New York mayor will eventually get the facts right regarding a payment to a pornographic actress who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump.

Discussion: Political Wire and TIME

Wall Street Journal:

The Stormy Daniels Damage — Does Trump want Americans to believe him in a genuine crisis? — Most storms pass eventually. This week Donald Trump tried to ensure that Stormy Daniels doesn't rain down permanent distraction on his Presidency, though at the cost of further damage to his credibility.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Hot Air, Mediaite, Raw Story and Political Wire

NBC News:

Rudy Giuliani insists Trump wasn't aware of Stormy Daniels reimbursement until recently — Giuliani said when he found out, the president responded “'Oh my goodness, I guess that's what it was for.'” — President Donald Trump only recently found out that he reimbursed his personal attorney …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Philly.com, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Balloon Juice and Political Wire

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Trump lives out his LBJ fantasy: no chief of staff — LBJ withheld the title of chief of staff from his top aides, and President Trump is now living out that fantasy even with John Kelly in the building. — As part of his exasperation with being handled, Trump has taken to telling friends that …

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Politico and Splinter

NBC News:

Democrats might have a better chance to flip the Senate than you think — WASHINGTON — Here's a question to ponder: Who would you rather be right now — Republican Josh Hawley in Missouri's Senate race or Democrat Phil Bredesen in Tennessee? If your answer is Bredesen …

Discussion: The Guardian, Daily Kos, Political Wire and MSNBC

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

MSNBC's Deutsch: Michael Cohen Told Me Giuliani 'Doesn't Know What He's Talking About' — MSNBC's Donny Deutsch dropped a bombshell on Morning Joe Friday, stating that said President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen told him Rudy Giuliani “doesn't know what he's talking about.”

Discussion: Bloomberg

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Rudy Giuliani tries to clean up his hubris-inspired mess

Discussion: Washington Press, CNN and Washington Monthly

Alayna Treene / Axios:
Trump: I'd “love” to be interviewed by Mueller

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Trump walks back Giuliani: 'He'll get his facts straight'

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God. and New Century Times

Nancy Cook / Politico:
Trump's loyal outsiders elbow Kelly out

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
EXCLUSIVE: Giuliani calls for Sessions to ‘step in’ on Cohen investigation

Discussion: RedState, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, CNN, Washington Post, Politico, New York Times, Breitbart, Daily Wire, IJR, Washington Times, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, Hot Air, Joe.My.God., Political Wire, emptywheel and The Week

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Welcome To The Giuliani Phase Of The Trump Presidency

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly, Breitbart and Washington Post

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:

Federal judge in Virginia grills special counsel on Manafort investigation … A federal judge in Virginia on Friday grilled lawyers from the office of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about the motivations for bringing a bank and tax fraud case against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Judge challenges Mueller's actions in Manafort case — A federal judge sharply challenged Special Counsel Robert Mueller's prosecution team Friday, questioning how its indictment of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on financial charges relates to Mueller's core mandate …

Discussion: ABC News

Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill: Mueller requests 70 blank subpoenas in Manafort case

Washington Post:

Influential outsiders have played a key role in Scott Pruitt's foreign travel … Scott Pruitt's itinerary for a February trip to Israel was remarkable by any standard for an Environmental Protection Agency administrator: A stop at a controversial Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

Discussion: HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, The Week, Splinter, CNN, Political Wire, New York Times and POLITICUSUSA

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:

A Pruitt Aide's Attack on Zinke Angers the White House — As Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces a seemingly endless stream of scandal, his team is scrambling to divert the spotlight to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. And the White House isn't happy about it.

Discussion: Washington Post, MSNBC, Associated Press, CBS News, Politico, Weekly Standard, Washington Press, Vox, Jezebel and The Week

Nathaniel Meyersohn / CNNMoney:

Unemployment is below 4% for the first time since 2000 — The job market hasn't been this good in a very long time. — The unemployment rate dropped below 4% in April for the first time since 2000. The Labor Department reported Friday that it fell to 3.9% — inching closer to territory not seen in half a century.

Discussion: Grabien News, CBS San Francisco and twitchy.com

Lucia Mutikani / Reuters:
U.S. job growth rebounds modestly; unemployment rate hits 3.9 percent

Discussion: IJR

Joseph Lawler / Washington Examiner:
Black, Hispanic unemployment rates hit record lows in April

Discussion: Sean Hannity and Daily Wire

Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 164,000 in April, vs 192,000 jobs expected

Discussion: National Review, New York Times, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and NTK Network

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Donald Trump's Pursuit of an Oval Office Meeting with Vladimir Putin — Inside the mystery behind the President's surprise invitation to Russia's leader, and his team's struggle to figure out what to do about it. — Late on Monday evening, the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, started making calls to European allies.

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

Why the Justice Department Is Defiant — A House subpoena, another missed deadline. What is the department hiding? — The feud that has simmered for months between Congress and the Justice Department erupted this week into a cage match. That's because the House is homing in on the goods.

Mark Penn / The Hill:
Rod Rosenstein is not above the law

Discussion: Breitbart

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Trump Orders Pentagon to Consider Reducing U.S. Forces in South Korea — WASHINGTON — President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for drawing down American troops in South Korea, just weeks before he holds a landmark meeting with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un …

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:
Never mind the Nobel talk. Trump has a different mission on North Korea.

Discussion: HuffPost, Axios and KTLA

New York Times:

2018 Nobel Prize in Literature Postponed Amid Sexual Abuse Scandal — STOCKHOLM — The Swedish panel that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature said on Friday that it would take the extraordinary step of not naming a laureate this year — not because of a shortage of deserving writers …

Discussion: BBC, New Republic, Svenska Akademien, Jezebel, CNN, Washington Post and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Adam B. Schiff / New York Times:

Democrats: Don't Take the Bait on Impeachment — In 2010, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I led the effort to impeach a federal judge from New Orleans named Thomas Porteous Jr. He was accused of multiple acts of corruption, some of which preceded his appointment to the federal bench …

Discussion: National Review

New York Times:

They Voted for Obama, Then Went for Trump. Can Democrats Win Them Back? — RITTMAN, Ohio — In the daily race that is her life, Sharla Baker does not think about politics very much. — She rises early, drives to the gas station to buy coffee, feeds her baby, dresses her two other children …

Washington Post:

Behind Erik Prince's China venture — The Blackwater founder has cut a lucrative security-training deal with Chinese insiders. But is it against U.S. interests? — Beijing's International Security Defense College, which boasts of becoming “the largest private security training school in China …

Justin Miller / The Texas Observer:

How Greg Abbott Got Played by the Russians During His Jade Helm Freakout — Texas Governor Greg Abbott's willingness to pander to the manic extremism broadcast through AM radio airwaves and streamed on the margins of YouTube apparently has him playing right into the hands of Russian disinformation campaigns.

Discussion: The Guardian

The Texas Tribune:
Hysteria over Jade Helm exercise in Texas was fueled by Russians, former CIA director says

Discussion: The Texas Observer, The Daily Beast, Balloon Juice, Snopes.com, The Week, ThinkProgress and Off the Kuff

The Daily Beast:

Report: Qatar Just Bought $6.5M Apartment in Trump Property — Qatar's mission to the United Nations bought an apartment valued at $6.5 million in New York's Trump World Tower on Jan. 17, one month after a judge ruled that President Donald Trump was not violating the Emoluments Clause …

Discussion: The Guardian

CBS Chicago:

Deputy Consul General Of Israel Allegedly Forced Out Of Uber Ride For Speaking Hebrew On Phone — CHICAGO (CBS) - The Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, Itay Milner, says he was ten minutes into his Uber ride on Lower Wacker Drive Thursday night when he was thrown out by the driver.

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Billy House / Bloomberg:

House Republicans Prepare to Endorse Trump's Military Parade — Lawmakers say it would honor ‘a century of military service’ — President called for a parade after seeing one in France — House Republicans are preparing to endorse President Donald Trump's plan for a military parade …

Discussion: Political Wire

Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:

Fox's Cavuto to Trump: 'That's your stink. Mr. President, that's your swamp.' … Fox News host Neil Cavuto ripped into President Trump's trail of conflicting and false statements in a monologue on Thursday, targeting Trump for everything from the Stormy Daniels payment to his exaggerations …

Discussion: Fox News Insider, Politico, Hullabaloo and The Daily Beast

Lingling Wei / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. and China Make Scant Progress in Trade Talks — High-level talks in Beijing end without joint comment after both sides exchange lists of tough demands — BEIJING—The U.S. and China asked one another to make sweeping concessions in trade talks, failing to bridge sharp divisions …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNNMoney, Financial Times, CNBC, Axios, NTK Network and New York Times

Kylie Atwood / CBS News:

U.S. freezes funding for Syria's “White Helmets” — Less than two months ago the State Department hosted members of the White Helmets at Foggy Bottom. At the time, the humanitarian group was showered with praise for saving lives in Syria. — “Our meetings in March were very positive.

Discussion: CNN and middleeastmonitor.com

Reuel Marc Gerecht / The Atlantic:

The Iran Deal Is Strategically and Morally Absurd — Editor's Note: This article is part of a debate about whether to stay in the Iran deal. Read the other entries here. — It was surely Barack Obama's profound aversion to the use of American military power that so enfeebled …

Discussion: Power Line

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

Then they came for Peppa Pig … Most Americans have never heard of Peppa Pig, the cartoon star of a British television show for preschoolers, which Chinese censors started purging from Internet apps and Chinese social media over the past week. Americans may not be bothered that an animated pig …

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Sam LaGrone / USNI News:

10 SEALs Set to be Separated from the Service for failing Drug Tests; Investigation Underway — Ten enlisted Navy SEALs and a sailor who supported Navy special warfare are in the process of being administratively discharged from the service for testing positive for cocaine or methamphetamines, USNI News has learned.

Discussion: Task & Purpose

Michael Barbaro / New York Times:

Listen to ‘The Daily’: The Hunt for the Golden State Killer — Paul Holes was on the verge of retirement, having never completed his decades-long mission to catch the Golden State Killer. Then he had an idea: Upload DNA evidence to a genealogy website. — On today's episode: