memeorandum: Trump claims ‘obviously’ Mexico isn't going to write a check for a border wall (Betsy Klein/CNN)

1:45 PM ET, January 10, 2019

Top Items:

Test of steel prototype for border wall showed it could be sawed through — NBC News obtained a photo showing results of a test on a steel wall prototype. — President Donald Trump has repeatedly advocated for a steel slat design for his border wall, which he described as …

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Trump says he ‘never meant Mexico would write a check’ for the wall — President Donald Trump says Mexico will pay for his proposed border wall through the revenue bump Trump hopes will come from a new trade deal pending in Congress. — “During the campaign, I said Mexico would pay for it …

Discussion: Roll Call, Townhall, Washington Post and The Daily Caller

Kathryn Watson / CBS News:

Trump will “probably” declare national emergency absent a deal in Congress — President Trump indicated Thursday he will likely declare a national emergency if Congress doesn't reach an agreement to fund his border wall — a move that is sure to set off challenges in the courts if he goes ahead with it.

Discussion: twitchy.com

Bloomberg:

For Trump, Storming Out of a Meeting Is a Signature Ploy — He has long used dramatic exits as a negotiating tactic — Trump once walked out on a judge during a divorce proceeding — President Donald Trump's decision to abruptly storm out of a meeting with congressional leaders on Wednesday shocked some on Capitol Hill.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, BloombergQuint, Raw Story and New York Times

Shannon Vavra / Axios:
Trump calls China “far more honorable” than Pelosi, Schumer

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo and Vox

Betsy Klein / CNN:
Trump claims ‘obviously’ Mexico isn't going to write a check for a border wall

Discussion: Politico, The Root and NTK Network

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Trump's Emergency Powers Threat Could End Shutdown Crisis, but at What Cost?

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Common Dreams, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Post

Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Lawmakers scramble to break impasse as Trump threatens national emergency

Discussion: One America News Network

Sam Mintz / Politico: Air traffic controllers, working without pay, ramp up shutdown pressure

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Raging, weakened Trump is running out of options

Discussion: Vox, Washington Examiner, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Gail Collins / New York Times:
Trump Hits the Wall

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress and TheBlaze

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:

Before Trump, Steve King Set the Agenda for the Wall and Anti-Immigrant Politics — Years before President Trump forced a government shutdown over a border wall, triggering a momentous test of wills in Washington, Representative Steve King of Iowa took to the House floor to show off a model of a 12-foot border wall he had designed.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Des Moines Register, Washington Monthly, Vox, RedState, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, Raw Story, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, Joe.My.God., Law & Crime, The Daily Caller and The Week

Christopher Mathias / HuffPost:

White Supremacist Rep. Steve King Gets A Primary Challenger — Iowa state Sen. Randy Feenstra will try to unseat the congressman. — White supremacist Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) will have a Republican primary challenger next year. — Iowa state Sen. Randy Feenstra announced Wednesday …

Discussion: Splinter

Dave Price / WHOTV:
Governor Reynolds Won't Back Congressman Steve King in 2020 Primary Fight

Discussion: Roll Call

CNN:

Exclusive: Robert Mueller met with Trump's pollster — Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller sought information directly last year from one of Donald Trump's campaign pollsters who is also a former business associate of Paul Manafort's. — Mueller's team met with pollster Tony Fabrizio …

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Raw Story and Observer

Christal Hayes / USA Today:
Trump's team had over 100 contacts with Russian-linked operatives, report shows

Discussion: Shakesville, CNN and Washington Post

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Trump says he knew nothing about Manafort sharing polling data with Russian associate

Discussion: Politico

Paul Seamus Ryan / Just Security:
Trump Campaign in Legal Jeopardy Over Manafort's Sharing Data with Russian Agent

Discussion: CNBC, Washington Post and RedState

National Enquirer:

Married Amazon Boss Jeff Bezos Getting Divorce Over Fling With Movie Mogul's Wife — The ENQUIRER's blockbuster exclusive of world's richest couple's break-up! — The marriage of the world's richest couple is set to explode in all-out war — after billionaire Jeff Bezos was caught cheating …

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Guardian and Daily Mail, more at Techmeme »

TMZ.com:
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos Did NOT Have a Prenup so $137 Billion on the Line in Divorce

Discussion: The Atlantic, Page Six, TheStreet, CNBC, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, BloombergQuint and New York Times

Cristiano Lima / Politico:
Trump on Jeff Bezos' divorce: 'It's going to be a beauty'

Discussion: One America News Network

Borzou Daragahi / The Independent:

Mike Pompeo lays out Trump's vision for Middle East, blaming Iran and Obama for region's ills — Secretary of State listed a number of dubious successes under President Donald Trump — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to lay out a vision for America's relationship with the Middle East …

Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Pompeo repudiates Obama Mideast policy, takes aim at Iran

Discussion: Axios

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
‘American shame is over’: Pompeo vows to quell Obama's Mideast ‘mistakes’

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Doug Sovern / KCBS 740AM:

Kamala Harris Ready To Enter Race For President, Sources Say — She's Finalizing Plans For Bay Area Rally To Announce Candidacy — Sen. Kamala Harris has decided to run for president in 2020 and will announce her candidacy on or around Martin Luther King Jr. Day, probably at a campaign rally in Oakland …

Discussion: CBS News, Roll Call, Mediaite, Shakesville, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, twitchy.com, The Week and CNN

C.J. Ciaramella / Hit & Run: Kamala Harris' New Book Tries to Massage Her Record as a Prosecutor, But the Facts Aren't Pretty

Nomaan Merchant / Associated Press:

Texas landowners prepare wall fight; Trump to visit border — HIDALGO, Texas (AP) — As President Donald Trump travels to the border in Texas to make the case for his $5.7 billion wall, landowner Eloisa Cavazos says she knows firsthand how the project will play out if the White House gets its way.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air and Boing Boing

Owen Daugherty / The Hill:

Texas county GOP set to vote this week to remove leader because he is Muslim — The Tarrant County Republicans in Texas will vote this week to remove their vice chairman because he is Muslim. — Republican Dorrie O'Brien is leading a group of colleagues in an attempt to unseat Shahid Shafi …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Texas Tribune and Raw Story

Gabby Orr / Politico:

Trump White House urging allies to prepare for possible RBG departure — The White House is reaching out to political allies and conservative activist groups to prepare for an ailing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's possible death or departure from the Supreme Court — an event that would trigger …

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Trump's one way out — DRIVING THE DAY — SHUTDOWN ... DAY 20 ... TRUMP'S ONLY WAY OUT ... THERE IS AN INCREASING RECOGNITION in the White House and among his most important allies on Capitol Hill that the only way for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP to get movement …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, Washington Press, Political Wire and Fortune

Tarini Parti / BuzzFeed News:

Here's Trump Allies' Plan To Meddle In The 2020 Democratic Primary — The pair of outside groups tied closely to President Donald Trump has retained the top Republican opposition group in an effort to smother Democrats seeking to challenge him — and perhaps even help pick his 2020 challenger.

Discussion: Raw Story

Cameron Joseph / Talking Points Memo:

Polls: Voters Oppose Trump On Shutdown By Wide Margins In Key 2020 Senate States — Voters disagree with President Trump's demand for border wall funding by double-digit margins in seven key Senate swing states, according to new polling conducted for a coalition of liberal groups.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Hullabaloo, Political Wire, Raw Story and Politico

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:

The ‘doomsday’ scenario: Here's what happens if the shutdown drags on — Economists warn that a catastrophe is in the making if the partial government closure continues for weeks or months. — The country would face an economic hellscape if the government shutdown lasts “months or even years …

Justin Wise / The Hill:

O'Rourke talks border during Instagram video at dentist — Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) recorded his trip to the dentist on Thursday to showcase his hygienist's experiences growing up near the southern border. — “So I'm here at the dentist and we're going to continue our series …

Discussion: Althouse

Jon Levine / The Wrap:

Financial Times' Agenda Pulls Quotes From ‘Les Moonves’ Interview He Denied Ever Happened — “In light of the statement from Mr. Moonves, we have removed the quotes from the article,” says Agenda in their third editor's note on the subject — The Financial Times' corporate news service Agenda …

Kurt Repanshek / National Parks Traveler:

Joshua Tree National Park To Close For Cleanup, Repairs To Vandalism, Illegal Roads — Illegal roads, cut down Joshua trees, and damaged federal property, along with the need to clean up garbage, prompted Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith to announce Tuesday that the park …

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

How an Experimental Billion-Dollar Privacy Lawsuit Could Clobber Facebook — What if law enforcement was outsourced to class action attorneys? Don't imagine. It's happening as the Cambridge Analytica scandal becomes Mark Zuckerberg's legal nightmare. — Less than one week.

Alex Thompson / Politico:

Top Bernie Sanders 2016 adviser accused of forcibly kissing subordinate — On the final night of the Democratic National Convention in July of 2016, Bernie Sanders' staffers went out to a Mediterranean restaurant and hookah bar in Center City Philadelphia to celebrate and mourn the end of the campaign.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Townhall, VICE News, Splinter, NTK Network, Washington Free Beacon, LifeNews.com, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and CNN

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:

White House Intervened in Case of Trump's Casino Pal Steve Wynn — The move came just before the administration drafted new guidance that could have paid off for the gambling boss, and months before his resignation. — In the summer of 2017, the Trump White House asked for a meeting …

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

The 5 Key Constituencies Of The 2020 Democratic Primary — Over the long course of the Republican presidential nomination process in 2015 and 2016, we frequently featured a diagram called “The Republicans' Five-Ring Circus.” The chart was based on the idea that the GOP essentially consisted …

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:

Trump's Wall Could Cost Him in 2020 — President Donald Trump may now be talking more about steel than cement, but his proposed border wall remains the Rosetta Stone for understanding both his conception of the presidency and his political strategy. — Nothing better illustrates Trump's …

Discussion: CNN

Matt Dixon / Politico:

Rick Scott blindsides DeSantis on his way out — Scores of 11th-hour appointments by outgoing Gov. Rick Scott. Roadblocks for the new transition team. A rival inaugural ball. — The contentious handoff of the Florida governor's office from Scott to fellow Republican Ron DeSantis …

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:

Trump: I never said Mexico would ‘write out a check’ for border wall — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he never promised Mexico would literally write a check to pay for a border wall — even though his 2016 presidential campaign said it had a plan to make Mexico fork over the cash.

Discussion: Hullabaloo