BY PRIYANKA ARIBINDI, BRIAN BEUTLER,
& CROOKED MEDIA

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

—Sarah Huckabee Sanders explaining John Kelly’s look of dismay at the NATO breakfast. Right.

NATO'S FATE-O

Ahead of today’s NATO summit, Madeline Albright and 15 other former foreign ministers around the world wrote President Trump a letter urging him to work on improving America’s “deteriorating” relationships with allies, and warning him not to ignore the threat Russia poses. It’s safe to assume he didn’t bother reading it.

Instead, Trump again accused NATO members of not spending enough on defense, and saying Germany’s natural gas imports make Germany (a key U.S. ally) a “captive of Russia.” A reprisal of Trump’s “no puppet! you’re the puppet” attack on Hillary Clinton during the debates, but for destroying the alliance that has successfully prevented global thermonuclear war for decades.

This alarming behavior received resounding criticism from both Democratic leaders as well as Republicans, including Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who said "When I see [U.S.] leadership diminishing and trying to break apart alliances that we created, it troubles me." Oh Bob, you are always so troubled. And yet… you do… what do you do again?

Foreign policy analysts are perhaps more alarmed about this than any of Trump’s previous foreign adventures. They believe his behavior is designed to undermine the alliance and may even be calibrated to bring about it’s collapse sooner than later.

Dan Shapiro, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, who served on President Obama’s National Security Council warned, “we could be on the on the cusp of a completely new era, a fundamental reshaping of the international order. And I don't mean over the course of the Trump Administration. I mean by next week.”

“If he sabotages the NATO summit the way he did the G-7,” Shapiro added, “don't be surprised if he actually makes a move toward exiting NATO.”

This dovetails with new reporting from the New Yorker’s Adam Entous, who discovered that Russia and the U.S. may be on the cusp of a grand bargain, even as Trump threatens to unravel the Western alliance. Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE—all countries that have courted Trump—have been encouraging him and Putin to reach an agreement that would require Putin to drive Iranian forces out of Syria and end the conflict there in exchange for the U.S. removing sanctions it imposed on Russia for invading Crimea.

Ukraine is not a NATO ally, but by striking such a deal, Trump would signal that he’d take a soft line on Russian incursions into neighboring countries, which would severely damage an alliance based on mutual defense against outside aggressors. Trump and Putin are scheduled to meet in Helsinki on July 16.

From Tommy: Remember World Wars I and II? Yeah, those were bad. One reason we've managed to keep the peace for the last 70 years is because of the NATO alliance. When Trump attacks NATO or unfairly criticizes our allies, he makes it harder to guarantee the freedom and security of its members, including our own.

Our government has told some immigrant parents that they need to pay for DNA tests in order to be reunited with the children we separated from them in the first place. The tests are being administered by a private contractor that the Department of Health and Human Services is refusing to name. Their refusal is illegal and this situation once again exposes the inhumanity of the Trump administration’s brutal, half-cocked separation policy.

The Trump administration is preparing to impose more tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Not only is this trade war stupid, it is pointless. As Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman notes, “he hasn't even told the Chinese—or, for that matter, anyone else—what they would have to do to satisfy him.” From trade to the border, Trump takes hostages and the ransom is always “more.”  

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has recordings of former Trump campaign manager/current jail-cell inhabitant Paul Manafort’s phone calls from jail, where he says he’s been treated like a “VIP” with a laptop, his own private shower, no jumpsuit, and his own workspace to prepare for trial. Manafort previously told the judge he couldn’t prepare for trial adequately, but the recordings include him saying he can see all the files like he would’ve been able to at home… 🍿

The Trump administration has cut next year’s funding for organizations helping people get insurance coverage next year under Obamacare by nearly 70 percent. The goal is making it harder for poor and sick people to see a doctor.

Another disappointing July for the Brits: Croatia beat out England to face France in the World Cup finals this Sunday.

While House Democrats ready legislation to abolish ICE, Republicans in the Senate have introduced a resolution supporting ICE. Glad that’s settled.

Facing harsh rebukes from @realDonaldTrump, Pfizer is delaying price hikes on more than three dozen of its pharmaceuticals until after the election. At least we know the upstanding people of the Trump administration would never trade on these wildly inappropriate market intrusions for profit.

Nevada will become the first state to use fentanyl to execute an inmate because drug manufacturers have become extremely reluctant to provide states lethal drug cocktails. Because the drug has never been used in an execution, the execution may well be botched. Barbaric.

Uber’s chief people officer, Liane Horsey, resigned yesterday amid an investigation into her handling of racial discrimination allegations at the company. An anonymous group within Uber has accused her of dismissing complaints of racial discrimination, and using racist, discriminatory language herself while discussing other employees. Human resources, but for human resources.  

CARDI B HAD HER BABY.  

On Pod Save the World: Tommy does a quick roundup of the week’s foreign policy news and then talks about the agony, ecstasy, and politics of the World Cup. His guest is the hilarious Roger Bennett from the Men in Blazers podcast.

Listen →

The Senate voted 51-48 to confirm Brian Benczkowski to lead the criminal division at the Department of Justice over unusually strenuous Democratic objections. Benczkowski has no prosecutorial experience, served on the Trump transition team, represented a Russian bank with close ties to Vladimir Putin, and has refused to commit to recusing himself from Russia investigation-related matters. NICE DEMOCRACY YOU HAVE THERE, WOULD BE A SHAME IF SOMETHING WERE TO HAPPEN TO IT.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) issued a statement saying “this could prove to be a historic mistake,” and we’re inclined to believe him. Nevertheless, all 50 present Republican senators and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted to confirm him. We struggle to understand why red-state senators think voting for horrible, low-profile Trump nominees is somehow good politics.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is railing against the “fake news” for… making painstaking efforts to accurately report a story? (The story is about how he ignored repeated allegations that his wrestling team’s doctor was molesting patients.)

Tommy Vietor said it best: Calling exhaustive reporting by CNN “fake news” is fucking pathetic and shows how worried Jordan is about his story unraveling.  

Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul Ryan is standing by Jordan, which extends his flawless streak of supporting Republican sexual predators and their enablers.

Also, if you’ve got $1000 to spare we can think of at least 1000 better ways to spend it than on a ticket to this bullshit. But if you have $1000 to spare, and you choose to spend it on that bullshit, you are guaranteed to suck.

Also also, who the FUCK thought Handmaid’s Tale wine was a good idea?

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) bought a yacht worth between $1-5 million the same day he voted to pass the GOP corporate tax cut bill. Do with this information what you will.

Journalism has not brought us this much joy in a long time.

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