Day 536: The Latest.
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White House communications director Bill Shine will attend Trump's meeting with Putin in Helsinki on July 16. The manifest for the West Wing delegation also includes John Kelly, deputy chief of staff Zach Fuentes, national security adviser John Bolton, Stephen Miller, social media director Dan Scavino, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Melania Trump, and other high-level staffers and their aides. (Politico)
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A group of protestors and Democratic Socialists chased Mitch McConnell through a restaurant parking lot on Saturday, chanting at him, calling him "turtle head," and asking, "Where are the babies, Mitch?" The protestors were referring to the infant children of migrants who were separated from their families at the U.S. southern border. One protestor later shouted, "We know where you live, too, Mitch! We know where you live! Yeah! We know where you live, Mitch!" (Washington Post)
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A one-year-old child who was separated from his father at the U.S. southern border appeared in immigration court. The child is one of several toddlers who have had to appear in court without their parents present. The Trump administration is facing a July 10 deadline to reunite children under the age of five with their families, and a July 26 deadline to reunite older children. Government personnel are using DNA samples to verify family relations, and some parents are being moved closer to their children in an attempt to meet the looming deadlines. (NPR)
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Trump says he is "very close to making a decision" when it comes to his Supreme Court nominee. Trump has narrowed his list down to four potential nominees, but he said he may need to extend the process. He originally gave himself a deadline of noon on Sunday, but he said he may need to extend the process to around 9 p.m. on Monday. (New York Times / Washington Post)
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Rudy Giuliani appeared to confirm that Trump did indeed ask then-FBI director James Comey to drop the probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, despite Trump's previous denials. "He didn't direct [Comey] to do that," Giuliani said. "What he said was, can you, can you …" Giuliani continued: "He said a lot of other things, some of which has turned out to be untrue. The reality is, as a prosecutor, I was told that many times, 'can you give the man a break,' either by his lawyers, by his relatives, by his friends. You take that into consideration. But you know that doesn't determine not going forward with it." (CNN / ABC News)
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Giuliani said that Michael Cohen "should cooperate" with prosecutors, as long as he tells the truth. "Michael Cohen should cooperate with the government," he said. Giuliani repeatedly downplayed the possibility that Cohen's decision to provide information to prosecutors would be damaging to Trump. "As long as he tells the truth, we're home free." (NPR)
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During the same interview, Giuliani warned that Trump is close to refusing to sit down for an interview with Robert Mueller. He also claimed that the Mueller investigation was the "most corrupt I’ve ever seen." He called prosecutors working on the investigation "very, very severe partisans working on an investigation that should have been done by people who are politically neutral." (The Guardian)
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Some details from an April 2017 meeting between Justice Department prosecutors and four Associated Press reporters about the probe into Paul Manafort have emerged in the form of two memos written by FBI agents who attended the meeting. Manfort's lawyers have said that the meeting was a potential conduit for improper leaks about the probe. One memo indicates that the AP reporters did get some information at the meeting in the form of vague assurances that investigators "appeared to have a good understanding of Manafort’s business dealings." The memos also indicate that purpose of the meeting was to "obtain documents from the AP reporters," and that the bulk of the information exchanged during the meeting flowed from the reporters to the FBI. (Politico)
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Trump lashed out at NATO on Twitter and singled out Germany two days before his trip to Brussels for a summit with U.S. allies. Trump said NATO members "must do much more" and increase their contributions to security costs. (Axios)
The United States is spending far more on NATO than any other Country. This is not fair, nor is it acceptable. While these countries have been increasing their contributions since I took office, they must do much more. Germany is at 1%, the U.S. is at 4%, and NATO benefits.......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2018...Europe far more than it does the U.S. By some accounts, the U.S. is paying for 90% of NATO, with many countries nowhere close to their 2% commitment. On top of this the European Union has a Trade Surplus of $151 Million with the U.S., with big Trade Barriers on U.S. goods. NO!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2018 -
The U.S. delegation to the United Nations opposed a resolution to encourage breast-feeding during a gathering of delegates in Geneva this spring for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly. The resolution relied on decades of research that showed mother's milk is healthiest for children and called on countries to limit inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes. American officials, however, sought to soften the resolution by removing language that called on governments to "protect, promote and support breast-feeding." When the effort failed, the U.S. delegation threatened Ecuador to drop the resolution or face punishing trade measures and the withdrawal of crucial military aid. (New York Times)
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The Trump administration is freezing billions of dollars in risk-adjustment payments to Obamacare health insurers. The payments don't involve tax dollars, and are meant to protect insurers from incurring big losses from high-cost patients. The payments were originally halted after a judge in New Mexico said they were based on flawed rules, but another court in Massachusetts upheld the payments. (Politico)