Today in one sentence: Local and congressional leaders skipped Trumps' visit to Pittsburgh; in an attempt to energize his base before the midterm elections, Trump claimed he can defy the constitution and end birthright citizenship via executive order; the consensus among legal scholars is that Trump cannot end birthright citizenship by executive order; and Mueller asked the FBI to investigate a claim by a woman who was offered money to make up sexual harassment claims against him.

1/ Trump traveled to Pittsburgh to offer condolences to the families of the 11 victims of the mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue hours after the first funerals were held. Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto explicitly asked Trump not to visit and did not appear with Trump. Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Pat Toomey also all declined to appear with Trump. More than 1,000 people declared Trump “unwelcome in our city and in our country.” Earlier, Trump said: “I really look forward to going. I would have done it even sooner, but I didn’t want to disrupt any more than they already had disruption.” (CNN / NPR / Washington Post)

  • Robert Bowers complained about immigrant “invaders” six days before the shooting. There is no invasion, but right-wing media has been heavily using the word “invasion” in relation to the Central American migrant caravan this month. (CNN)

  • Shep Smith breaks with Fox News on the migrant caravan: “There is no invasion. No one is coming to get you. There is nothing at all to worry about.” The migrants are “more than two months away — if any of them actually come here,” Smith added.(HuffPost)

  • The Kansas man convicted of a 2016 plot to massacre Somali Muslim refugees asked for a more lenient sentence, arguing that Trump’s rhetoric should be taken into account as the “backdrop” for the case. (Washington Post)

  • Pence hosted an election event with a so-called “Christian rabbi.” Instead of opening up with prayers for the 11 Jews shot dead, Loren Jacobs praised Jesus Christ and then offered prayers for four Republican candidates. (Yahoo News)

2/ In an attempt to energize his base before the midterm elections, Trump claimed he can defy the constitution and end birthright citizenship via executive order. Trump said he discussed the idea with the White House counsel and that “it’s in the process, it will happen, with an executive order.” (Axios / Politico)

3/ The consensus among legal scholars is that Trump cannot end birthright citizenship by executive order. To end the constitutional right to citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to non-citizen, Trump would have to find a way around the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Amendments to the Constitution cannot be overridden by presidential action. (New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post)

  • Paul Ryan: “Obviously” Trump cannot end birthright citizenship by executive order. It would involve a “very, very lengthy” constitutional process to change the 14th Amendment, which was adopted in 1868 to protect citizenship rights for freed slaves. (CNN)

  • The American Civil Liberties Union called Trump’s plan “blatantly unconstitutional.” (Twitter)

  • Lindsey Graham said he will introduce legislation to support Trump’s plan to limit birthright citizenship. (Reuters)

4/ Trump falsely claimed that America is the “only country in the world with birthright.” At least 30 countries worldwide offer it, including Canada and Mexico. (Daily Beast / Axios)

poll/ 40% of voters under 30 said they will definitely vote this year. In 2014, 26% said they would definitely vote. Trump holds a 26% approval rating among those age 18 to 29. (Washington Post)

  • Voting machines in five Texas counties have been changing ballots. The state blamed voters for the error, saying they were using the selection wheel before the screen finished rendering. (Washington Post)

Notables.

  1. Robert Mueller asked the FBI to investigate a claim by a woman who was offered money to make up sexual harassment claims against him. The scheme was brought to the special counsel’s attention by journalists who were told about it by a woman alleging that she had been offered roughly $20,000 by a GOP activist named Jack Burkman “to make accusations of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment against Robert Mueller.” (The Atlantic)

  2. The Interior Department’s Inspector General referred Ryan Zinke to the Justice Department for further investigation. Justice Department prosecutors will now explore whether a criminal investigation is warranted. An agency’s inspector general only refers cases to the Justice Department when it has determined that there could be potential criminal violations. (Washington Post)

  3. Trump wants Stormy Daniels to pay $342,000 for his attorney fees after defeating her defamation lawsuit. U.S. District Judge S. James Otero threw out the lawsuit earlier this month over a tweet by Trump in which he accused Clifford of “a total con job.” The judge awarded Trump “reasonable” attorneys’ fees. (Bloomberg)

  4. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to delay a trial over adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. (Washington Post)

  5. Fewer than 1,000 U.S. defense jobs would be created as a result of Trump’s $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, despite Trump’s claims that the deal would create “500,000 jobs.” One forecast shows the potential for up to 10,000 new jobs in Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

  6. Trump called Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum a “thief” who runs a corrupt city. Trump provided no evidence to support that claim, or his claim that Gillum was under investigation by the FBI. The Tallahassee city government, where Gillum is mayor, is currently being investigated, but there is no evidence that Gillum is personally under scrutiny, nor has he been charged with any wrongdoing. (NBC News)

  7. The U.S. is preparing additional tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports if Trump and Xi Jinping fail to “make great deal with China” and reconcile the ongoing trade dispute. Trump added that “it has to be great because they’ve drained our country.” (Bloomberg / CNBC) / Reuters)

  8. Trump: “If you want your stocks to go down, I strongly suggest voting Democrat.” (CNBC)

Last year today: Day 284: "NO COLLUSION!"