Idiocracy

Axios reports: President Trump is starting his official day much later than he did in the early days of his presidency, often around 11am, and holding far fewer meetings, according to copies of his private schedule shown to Axios. This is largely to meet Trump’s demands for more “Executive Time,” which almost always means TV and Twitter time alone in …

The Hill reports: President Trump slammed CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, calling him a “flunky” following the cable news host’s contentious interview with White House senior adviser Stephen Miller. Tapper cut off Miller after a heated interview on Sunday, saying he did not want to waste his viewers’ time. “I get it. There’s one viewer that you care about right …

The Week reports: Trump’s announcement that he will handle questions of his mental capacity in the style of former President Ronald Reagan is an odd choice, explains a Washington Post analysis, given that Reagan revealed an Alzheimer’s diagnosis soon after leaving office: “The news media did indeed question Reagan’s mental health at times, but such questions were at least somewhat …

Talking Points Memo reports: CNN host Jake Tapper on Sunday ended an interview with White House aide Stephen Miller after Miller dodged Tapper’s questions about the White House’s irate response to Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.” Miller on CNN’s “State of the Union” said former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who Wolff quoted …

The Washington Examiner reports: Tiffany Trump on Friday confirmed President Trump’s affinity for McDonald’s but stopped short of verifying Michael Wolff’s claim that the president indulged in menu items from the fast food chain every night in bed. “He loves McDonald’s,” Trump told TMZ regarding her father’s predilections. “He wishes, right?” the first daughter added when asked whether he ate …

NBC News reports: Facing increasing questions over his mental stability after the publication of an explosive new tell-all book, President Donald Trump insisted Saturday that he is a “very stable genius.” In a series of tweets early on Saturday morning, Trump accused his critics of “taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence.” During former …

Axios reports: There are definitely parts of Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” that are wrong, sloppy, or betray off-the-record confidence. But there are two things he gets absolutely right, even in the eyes of White House officials who think some of the book’s scenes are fiction: his spot-on portrait of Trump as an emotionally erratic president, and the low opinion …

Law & Crime reports: Neil Gorsuch‘s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court may be one of President Donald Trump‘s early victories during his first year in office, but according to the new book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Trump originally had someone very different in mind for the job. While Gorsuch’s qualifications were acknowledged even by his …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump on Thursday night lambasted the author of a new damning book about his administration, calling it “phony” and asserting he never gave its author reporting access to the White House. Trump’s legal team on Thursday threatened possible libel charges against the book’s author, Michael Wolff, its publisher and his former chief strategist, Stephen K. …

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration on Thursday moved to vastly expand offshore drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic oceans with a plan that would open up federal waters off the California coast for the first time in more than three decades. The new five-year drilling plan also could open new areas of oil and gas exploration in …

The Hill reports: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that Breitbart News should consider cutting ties with chairman Stephen Bannon over his recently published remarks critical of Donald Trump Jr. “I certainly think that it’s something they should look at and consider,” Sanders said at a press briefing. Trump and his administration are piling on Bannon a …

Raw Story reports: MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle grilled former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci on Thursday — and was incredulous when Scaramucci suggested that there was a way for former Trump political strategist Steve Bannon to get back in President Donald Trump’s good graces. “Anthony, you said six months ago that you think Steve Bannon tries to suck his own …

The Washington Examiner reports: President Trump said Thursday that he no longer talks to Steve Bannon, and accused reporters of exaggerating their relationship a day after his legal team sent a cease-and-desist letter to the former White House chief strategist over remarks he made about Trump’s son. “I don’t talk to him. That’s just a misnomer,” Trump told the press …

Patch.com reports: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will deliver a briefing for reporters Thursday afternoon at about 1:30 p.m. Eastern. She can expect to face questions about a new book on the administration that continues to dog President Trump, especially as former aide Steve Bannon has been quoted as saying a meeting held by campaign officials in Trump …

Via Breitbart: White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced a ban on personal cellphones and devices in the West Wing, in an apparent attempt to block leaks from the White House. “[S]tarting next week the use of all personal devices for both guests and staff will no longer be allowed in the West Wing,” Sanders said in a statement to …

Politico reports: Republican Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan said Thursday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should step aside “now,” citing the Justice Department’s handling of the investigation into President Donald Trump’s campaign ties to Russian operatives and intelligence leaks to media as key concerns with his performance. In a joint opinion piece published in the Washington Examiner, Meadows (R-N.C.) …

The Hill reports: President Trump is reportedly attempting to stop the publication of “Fire and Fury,” Michael Wolff’s explosive new book about his campaign and presidency. The Washington Post’s Carol Leonnig tweeted early Thursday morning that Trump’s attorneys have sent a cease-and-desist letter to Wolff and book publisher Henry Holt & Company, demanding that they do not publish the book, …

Michael Wolff, the author of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, published a column in the Hollywood Reporter this morning in which he recounts the early days of the Trump administration. An excerpt: “You can’t make this shit up,” Sean Spicer, soon to be portrayed as the most hapless man in America, muttered to himself after his tortured …

The Washington Post reports: Late Wednesday, lawyers for Trump sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bannon, arguing he violated the employment agreement he signed with the Trump Organization in numerous ways and also likely defamed the president. They ordered that he stop communicating either confidential and or disparaging information, and preserve all records in preparation for “imminent” legal action. “You have …

Just in from the White House: Despite substantial evidence of voter fraud, many states have refused to proved the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity with basic information relevant to its inquiry. Rather than engage in endless legal battles at taxpayer expense, today I signed an executive order to dissolve the Commission, and have asked the Department of Homeland Security …