memeorandum: White House blindsided by Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif's G-7 appearance (NBC News)

4:15 PM ET, August 25, 2019

Top Items:

Trump Allies Target Journalists Over Coverage Deemed Hostile to White House — WASHINGTON — A loose network of conservative operatives allied with the White House is pursuing what they say will be an aggressive operation to discredit news organizations deemed hostile to President Trump …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios and POLITICUSUSA, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Trump expresses regret about escalating China trade war, then reverses course and says he wishes he raised tariffs higher — ● The White House said President Trump's earlier suggestion that he regretted escalating the trade war with China was “misinterpreted” and that what he regrets is not raising tariffs higher.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, One America News Network, BizPac Review, The Week and UPI

Washington Post:

Iran's Zarif makes surprise trip to G-7, catching Trump off-guard — BIARRITZ, France — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a surprise visit to the city hosting the Group of Seven summit Sunday, a move that caught President Trump off-guard and added another element of tension to the meeting of world economic leaders.

Justin Wise / The Hill:

Trump accuses news media of trying to make reelection more difficult — President Trump early Sunday lashed out at the news media, accusing it of trying to hurt his reelection chances. — “Before I arrived in France, the Fake and Disgusting News was saying that relations with the 6 others countries …

Discussion: Mediaite

NBC News:

White House blindsided by Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif's G-7 appearance — U.S. officials said the administration was furious at the French government's decision to invite Zarif with little advance notice. — SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ, France — The White House was blindsided by the arrival …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times and Al Jazeera

Rebecca Falconer / Axios:
China trade war: White House clarifies Trump comments about “second thoughts”

Discussion: Washington Post, Reuters, Vox, The Guardian, BizPac Review and The Week

Bloomberg:
Macron Invites Iran's Zarif to G-7 Sidelines, Risks U.S. Outrage

Discussion: Washington Post, twitchy.com and UPI

Julian Borger / The Guardian: G7 summit: Iran foreign minister makes surprise Biarritz appearance

Yasmeen Serhan / The Atlantic:
Boris Johnson's G7 Balancing Act

Discussion: BBC

Associated Press:
High-stakes gamble: Iranian envoy gets surprise G-7 invite

Discussion: The Week

Associated Press:
Trump signals some regret on China trade war

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Slate, The Week and New York Times

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:

Steve King Is Broke And Has Been Abandoned by His Colleagues as He Runs for Re-Election — It turns out that there are some actual political consequences for a congressman sounding off repeatedly about white supremacy and abortion. — As he gears up for a difficult re-election cycle, Rep. Steve King's campaign is strapped for cash.

Discussion: Axios and Talking Points Memo

Julio Rosas / Washington Examiner:

Duke psychiatrist: Trump ‘may be responsible for many more million deaths’ than Hitler, Stalin, and Mao — The former chairman of the Psychiatry Department at Duke University claimed on CNN that President Trump is as bad as the worst dictators of the 20th century, and that his presidency might lead to even more deaths than they did.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and twitchy.com

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

‘A deep and boiling anger’: NBC/WSJ poll finds a pessimistic America despite current economic satisfaction — A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that 70 percent of Americans say they're angry at the political establishment — WASHINGTON — The political and cultural upheaval …

Discussion: Axios, CBS News, Hullabaloo and Political Wire

Will Steakin / ABC News:

‘THIS WEEK’ EXCLUSIVE: Joe Walsh announces Republican primary challenge against Trump — Conservative firebrand former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh announced Sunday with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on ABC's “This Week” that he's launching a long-shot Republican presidential primary challenge against President Donald Trump.

Discussion: Fox News, Slate, NPR, UPI, One America News Network, Rolling Stone, The Daily Caller, Politico, Splinter, New York Post, Associated Press, The Week, Mediaite and Breitbart

Annie Karni / New York Times:
Joe Walsh Confirms He Will Challenge Trump for Republican Nomination

Discussion: CNN, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, Progress Pond, Law & Crime and Hot Air

Axios:
Republican Joe Walsh announces he will primary Trump in 2020

Discussion: Chicago Sun-Times, CBS Chicago and Mediaite

Cristina Cabrera / Talking Points Memo:
Joe Walsh Officially Announces 2020 Campaign Against Trump

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Ronn Blitzer / Fox News: Joe Walsh announces Trump primary challenge: 'I'm in'

Roger Kimball / American Greatness:

Andrew McCabe's Unjust Deserts — I was going to pass by in silent contempt the news that CNN—the network that patrons of airport lounges cordially dislike and that no one else watches—just decided to hire disgraced former FBI honcho Andrew McCabe as a commentator.

Discussion: National Review

CNN:

Under Trump, the deficit has ballooned, exploding a GOP myth — Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, and author, with Kevin Kruse, of the new book “Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974.” Follow him on Twitter at @julianzelizer.

Marisa Fernandez / Axios:

Cindy McCain on political division: “This country is not well right now” — On the anniversary of John McCain's death, his wife Cindy reflected on the late senator's legacy and said on ABC's “This Week” that she was launching a new social media initiative called #ActsOfCivility in his memory.

Discussion: Breitbart

ABC News: ‘This Week’ Transcript 8-25-19: Former Rep. Joe Walsh, Cindy McCain

Kerry Picket / Washington Examiner:

Scaramucci appears at Biden campaign event and says Trump will lose in 2020 — SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — President Trump's wayward former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci appeared at a Southampton, New York, campaign stop where Joe Biden addressed well-heeled Democrats.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Townhall and Bloomberg

Mary Papenfuss / HuffPost:
Anthony Scaramucci Turns Up At Hamptons Charity Event Featuring ... Joe Biden

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

CBC News:

Unpaid Kentucky coal miners have been blocking a train track for 3 weeks — Jeff Willig says miners will camp out until ‘we get back to work or until we get our money’ — It's been more than three weeks since Jeff Willig got a call from his buddy Chris Sexton asking if he wanted to go stand …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:

‘Speed dating’: Candidates connect early with super delegates amid fear of convention chaos — At the Democratic National Committee meeting in San Francisco last week, concern mounted that the primaries won't yield a clear winner. — SAN FRANCISCO — For more than three decades …

Discussion: Political Wire

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:

When Kamala Was a Top Cop — When Senator Kamala Harris is criticized for actions she took as San Francisco's district attorney or as California's attorney general, the Democratic presidential hopeful responds in two ways. She cites the most progressive aspects of her record …

Associated Press:

The Latest: Trump expresses confidence on Brexit talks — BIARRITZ, France (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump at the Group of Seven summit. (all times local): — President Donald Trump says he has confidence in new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to carry out Brexit talks with the European Union.

Discussion: Meduza.io