memeorandum: ‘What changed?’: Scaramucci hosted Trump Jr. for dinner days before break with president (Steven Nelson/Washington Examiner)

5:40 PM ET, August 21, 2019

Top Items:

Danes furious over postponement of Trump's visit, call his behavior ‘insulting’ — BERLIN — Danish lawmakers on Wednesday reacted in fury to President's Trump's postponement of his two-day visit in early September to Denmark after its prime minister said she was not interested in selling him the autonomous island of Greenland.

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Trump Says Danish Prime Minister Was ‘Nasty’ in Rejecting Greenland Offer — President Trump on Wednesday said that the new prime minister of Denmark was “nasty” to him when she rejected his interest in purchasing Greenland, as he explained why he abruptly canceled a trip to the European nation next month.

Discussion: Washington Press and Earther

Thomas Wright / The Atlantic:

Trump Has Defected — Yesterday, President Donald Trump canceled a meeting with the new Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, because she refuses to discuss the sale of Greenland. Greenland used to be a Danish colony but now belongs to the people of Greenland—the Danish government could not sell the island even if it wanted to.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and Slate

BBC:
Trump cancels Denmark visit amid spat over sale of Greenland

Discussion: Shareblue Media, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Quartz, Althouse, Spectator USA, The Local and Townhall

Alex Pappas / Fox News:
Defiant Trump digs in amid battles on trade, guns, Israel: ‘I am the chosen one’

Discussion: Breitbart

Jan M. Olsen / Associated Press:
Greenland fallout: Trump's canceled trip blindsides Denmark

Discussion: Vanity Fair

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump Says Jews Should Love Him Because He's Almost Literally Jesus — President Trump has been vexed recently by the refusal of the majority of the American Jewish community to support him. For insight into the mysterious paradox of why a traditionally liberal social minority remains unenthusiastic …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Trump quotes conspiracy theorist claiming Israelis ‘love him like he is the second coming of God’ — President Trump went on Twitter on Wednesday to quote a conservative radio host and known conspiracy theorist who praised him as “the greatest President for Jews” and claimed that Israelis “love him like he is the second coming of God.”

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Politico, Washington Monthly, Raw Story, The Mahablog, PJ Media Home, The American Conservative and Jewish Journal

Ewan Palmer / Newsweek:
DisloyalToTrump Trends After President Accuses Jewish Americans of ‘Disloyalty’: 'We Know Exactly …

Discussion: USA Today, Slate, Daily Wire and Common Dreams

Josef Federman / Associated Press: As Trump questions loyalty of US Jews, Israeli PM is quiet

Marc Schulman / Newsweek: With His Accusation of ‘Disloyalty,’ Trump Reminded Jews Exactly Why They Vote Democratic | Opinion

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
Trump and the fragile belonging of American Jews

Discussion: New York Times, NBC News and RELEVANT Magazine

New York Times:

Deficit Will Reach $1 Trillion Next Year, Budget Office Predicts — The federal budget deficit is growing faster than expected as President Trump considers plans that would add to government debt, like tax cuts. — Breaking87 comments — Trump's Message: The Economy Is Great. But We Need a Big Stimulus.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Vox, MarketWatch, USA Today, The Daily Caller and The Week

Wall Street Journal:

In Reversal, Trump Says He Is No Longer Considering Tax Cuts — President had said Tuesday he wanted to bolster the economy by reducing capital gains, payroll taxes — WASHINGTON—President Trump said Wednesday he was no longer looking at any form of tax cuts, in a stark reversal from a day earlier.

Julia Ioffe / GQ:

The Summer of Warren — Julia Ioffe joins Elizabeth Warren on the campaign trail, where the surging senator has spent the season overcoming her campaign's wobbly start and getting down to business—trouncing debate foes, climbing in the polls, and somehow making a slew of policy plans feel exciting.

Discussion: Breitbart and The Week

Los Angeles Times: Bernie Sanders' famed $27 donors are split in 2020's sprawling Democratic field

New York Times:

Migrant Families Would Face Indefinite Detention Under New Trump Rule — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration unveiled a regulation on Wednesday that would allow it to detain indefinitely migrant families who cross the border illegally, replacing a decades-old court agreement that imposed …

Discussion: Vox, Associated Press, Department of Homeland …, BuzzFeed News, Vanity Fair, Hullabaloo, The Week, Splinter and CNBC

Department of Homeland Security:
DHS and HHS Announce New Rule to Implement the Flores Settlement Agreement; Final Rule Published …

Discussion: RedState, Axios, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Washington Times, Slate, UPI, BizPac Review, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller

Daniel Horowitz / Conservative Review:
Trump admin aims to finally END catch-and-release in game-changing regulation

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

Trump critics eye GOP primary race, even if defeating him seems ‘preposterous’ — Joe Walsh, a pugnacious former congressman, is preparing a Republican primary challenge to President Trump that he previewed as a daily “bar fight” with the incumbent over his morality and competency.

Discussion: Fox News, National Review, OpenSecrets.org, Vanity Fair, Salt Lake Tribune, Breitbart, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, The New Civil Rights Movement and Talking Points Memo

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post: Republicans have a choice, but they prefer the racist anti-Semite

Jesse Paul / The Colorado Sun:

Colorado's presidential electors don't have to vote for candidate who wins the state, federal appeals court rules — Colorado's presidential electors do not have to vote for the candidate who wins the state's popular vote, the powerful 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled Tuesday evening …

Discussion: Political Wire and Washington Free Beacon

Joseph Wulfsohn / Fox News: AOC calls the Electoral College a ‘scam,’ says it has a ‘racial injustice breakdown’

CNN:

Donald Trump made 84 false claims last week — Trump falsely claims Google ‘manipulated’ votes in 2016 election — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump spent most of last week at his Bedminster golf club, where he sometimes retreats from the public eye.

CNN:

Brazil's Amazon rainforest is burning at a record rate, research center says — (CNN)Fires are raging at a record rate in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, and scientists warn that it could strike a devastating blow to the fight against climate change. — The fires are burning at the highest rate since …

Discussion: BBC, Al Jazeera, NPR, New York Times and Snopes.com

Jacqueline Mroz / New York Times:

Their Mothers Chose Donor Sperm. The Doctors Used Their Own. — Scores of children born through artificial insemination have learned from DNA tests that their biological fathers were the doctors who performed the procedure. — Growing up in Nacogdoches, Tex., Eve Wiley learned at age 16 …

Steven Nelson / Washington Examiner:

‘What changed?’: Scaramucci hosted Trump Jr. for dinner days before break with president — Less than two weeks before Anthony Scaramucci broke with President Trump, the former White House communications director hosted a dinner in Manhattan with Donald Trump Jr. in a bid to impress clients of a business he owns.

Discussion: Breitbart, Politico, BizPac Review and The Gateway Pundit

Good Morning America:

‘Dancing With the Stars’ 2019: Hannah B, Karamo and more to compete on new season — The celebrities who will battle it out this year on the dancefloor were revealed on “GMA.”

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement and CNN

Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV:

Langevin comes out for Trump impeachment inquiry — WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Democratic Congressman Jim Langevin announced Wednesday he now supports impeachment hearings against President Trump, becoming the latest House lawmaker to back a process that could lead to Trump's removal from office.

Discussion: Vox

HuffPost:

Trump Inflating Scottish Golf Resorts' Value By $165 Million, Per UK Filings — The president told British authorities the properties are a combined $65 million in the red. His U.S. disclosures say they're worth at least $100 million. — WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump …

Discussion: The Week

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:

Trump now says he has ‘an appetite’ for stronger gun background checks — President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered what appeared to be another pivot in his views on gun control measures, saying the nation's background check system is “already strong” but that he has “an appetite” for plugging loopholes in the federal process.

Discussion: Fortune, New York Times, Political Wire and Shareblue Media

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
It takes about three weeks for Americans to stop paying attention after a mass shooting

Discussion: Mother Jones, Axios, RedState, USA Today and Big League Politics

Grace Sparks / CNN:

CNN Poll: Public's view on the economy dips for the first time in Trump's presidency — (CNN)Almost two-thirds of Americans (65%) say current economic conditions are good, but that's down since May, representing the first significant decline in public perception of the economy during Donald …

Discussion: The Guardian and Political Wire

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Biden and Bernie the only Democrats to beat Trump in new poll

Discussion: The Independent, Outside the Beltway, Washington Times and The Atlantic

Bloomberg:

Farm Tensions Escalate as USDA Staffer Threatened in Midwest — NASS crop chief Honig was scheduled to address a group on tour — 'It's clearly a stressful time right now,' tour organizer says — In a sign of rising tensions with the farm community, the Trump administration withdrew staff …

Washington Post:

Hate crime reports have soared in D.C. Prosecutions have plummeted. … The hatred that day couldn't have been clearer to Ashly Taylor. — She had endured it ever since coming out as a teenager, when strangers said lewd things to her for holding another girl's hand and one of her own relatives called her a “dyke.”

Brian Rosenwald / The Atlantic:

They Just Wanted to Entertain — No one set out to turn the airwaves into a political weapon—much less deputize talk-radio hosts as the ideological enforcers of a major American political party. Instead the story of how the GOP establishment lost its power over the Republican message …

Ursula Perano / Axios:

Trump says he is “the chosen one” to take on China in trade war — Speaking to reporters outside the White House Wednesday, President Trump looked to the sky and proclaimed “I am the chosen one” while arguing that “somebody” had to take on China over their unfair trade practices.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, RedState, Politico, Little Green Footballs and Breitbart

Thomas Franck / CNBC:

Yield curve briefly inverts again with 2-year Treasury yield topping 10-year rate — The spread between the yield on the 10-year Treasury note and that of the 2-year note on Wednesday turned negative for the second time in one week, a recession warning that flashed for the first time since 2005 on Aug. 14.

Salena Zito / Washington Examiner:

Mike Pompeo says no to Senate run in exclusive, wide-ranging interview — Mike Pompeo closed the door on any speculation he might run for the open Senate seat in Kansas next year. “I am going to stay here,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Washington Examiner. “There's lots of people talking about it.

The Daily Beast:

'Where's Steve?': Trump Frets as CNN Benches His Biggest Defender — Amid national uproar over mass shootings, possible economic gloom, and gun control, the president has found time to be distressed over a pro-Trump pundit's lack of CNN airtime. — Over the past month …

Discussion: Mediaite

Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:

This viral Instagram hoax duped A-listers — and the man overseeing our nuclear arsenal — The ramifications of Instagram's supposedly new “rule where they can use your photos” weren't totally clear. — But the warnings multiplied rapidly online: Your posts could end up being leveraged against you in court cases.