Trump Administration

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration considered imposing tariffs on imports from Australia last week, but decided against the move amid fierce opposition from military officials and the State Department, according to several people familiar with the discussions. Some of President Trump’s top trade advisers had urged the tariffs as a response to a surge of Australian aluminum …

Axios reports: On “Axios on HBO,” Jared Kushner said he doesn’t know whether he’d call the FBI if he were to receive an email today like the one before the campaign’s Trump Tower meeting, which had the subject line: “Re: Russia – Clinton – private and confidential.” Kushner is now in the West Wing as senior adviser to the president. …

Politico reports: The Justice Department has decided not to charge Julian Assange for his role in exposing some of the CIA’s most secret spying tools, according to a U.S. official and two other people familiar with the case. It’s a move that has surprised national security experts and some former officials, given prosecutors’ recent decision to aggressively go after the …

From the right wing outlet Newsmax: Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Sunday said an administration staffer was responsible for the request to hide the USS John McCain warship during President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan — and sees nothing wrong with it. In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” Mulvaney said the advance team …

CNN reports: Vice President Mike Pence suggested Thursday that abortion rights activists support “infanticide,” echoing false claims made last month by President Donald Trump about doctors killing babies that have already been born. Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during their talks Thursday in Canada, Pence said that while he appreciated the ability to speak candidly with Trudeau, he …

Politico reports: The Trump administration plans to launch a new panel to offer “fresh thinking” on international human rights, a move some activists fear is aimed at narrowing protections for women and members of the LGBT community. The new body, to be called the Commission on Unalienable Rights, will advise Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to a notice the …

It’s Reagan and ketchup all over again. Bloomberg reports: Canned spray cheese, beef jerky, and pimiento-stuffed olives would count as staple foods under the Trump administration’s proposed rule for the federal food-stamp program. The rule reportedly revises the program’s “minimum stocking requirements” for food staples, which stores are required to meet in order to accept the food-stamp benefits. The Federal …

USA Today reports: Move over, freedom fries. Freedom gas is here. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy posted a press release about liquid natural gas exports, referring to natural gas as “freedom gas” and “molecules of U.S. freedom.” The release was about the Department of Energy’s authorization of increased exports of natural gas from a terminal located off the coast …

Reuters reports: The former British spy who produced a dossier describing alleged links between Donald Trump and Russia will not cooperate with a prosecutor assigned by U.S. Attorney General William Barr to review how the investigations of Trump and his 2016 election campaign began, a source with knowledge of the situation said. Christopher Steele, a former Russia expert for the …

The New York Times reports: The federal government will no longer fulfill what scientists say is one of the most urgent jobs of climate science studies: reporting on the future effects of a rapidly warming planet and presenting a picture of what the earth could look like by the end of the century if the global economy continues to emit …

The Huffington Post reports: Lynne Patton, a regional administrator for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, wrote last week that she may have broken a federal law meant to prevent officials from politicizing their government positions, but said that even if that were the case, she “honestly” didn’t care. “Just retweeted this amazing tweet from both of my Twitter …

NBC News reports: The Trump administration’s ban on goods produced by a Chinese tech giant would seem to have little to do with rural America. But rural cell service providers across the U.S. are almost entirely dependent on the company, Huawei, which produces inexpensive wireless communications equipment. These small telecom companies now face billions of dollars in costs or the …

USA Today reports: North Korea on Monday called U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton a “war monger” and “defective human product” after he called the North’s recent tests of short-range missiles a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The statement by an unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesman came as President Donald Trump continued his visit to Japan for meetings …

From the transcript of this morning’s Meet The Press: CHUCK TODD: Can you explain why Americans should not be concerned that the president of United States is essentially siding with a murderous authoritarian dictator over a former vice president in the United States? SARAH SANDERS: Chuck, the president’s not siding with that. But I think they agree in their assessment …

CBS News reports: Vice President Mike Pence told the most diverse graduating class in the history of the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday that the world is “a dangerous place” and they should expect to see combat. “Some of you will join the fight against radical Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he said. “It is a virtual certainty that …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump asked the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to resign, leaving yet another vacancy within the Department of Homeland Security. Lee Francis Cissna told staff on Friday that his last day would be June 1. Cissna leads the agency responsible for legal immigration, including benefits and visas.  Cissna’s position, like others, requires …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s departure for Tokyo on Friday kicks off a summer of global jet-setting that takes him to five separate countries — and confines him to the presidential aircraft for more than 80 hours flying overseas. Not always an eager traveler, Trump has complained in the past about the pace of his foreign travel or the accommodations …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of about 1,500 additional U.S. troops to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, according to two people familiar with the matter. The purpose of the deployment is to enhance the protection of forces already in the region that are dedicated to missile defense, freedom of navigation in Persian Gulf …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration is preparing to circumvent Congress to allow the export to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of billions of dollars worth of munitions that are now on hold, according to current and former American officials and legislators familiar with the plan. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other senior aides are …

Salon reports: Recently, a congressional staffer going about his business on the Hill encountered a couple of people who handed him a pamphlet with the scintillating title “Sexual Sin and the Aphrodisiac of Power.” Sadly, this was not a post-#MeToo effort to discourage sexual harassment in the halls of Congress. Instead, the document implored “legislators, staff and lobbyists” to adopt …