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Michael Flynn, Trump's national security adviser, was let go only after he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. (And after Flynn's firing, Trump has expressed regret that he had to go.) White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigned Friday but, according to all available reporting, Trump wanted him to stay on even after hiring Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.

The one exception: Trump fired FBI Director James Comey due, according to the President, to his aggressive stance in relation to the Russia investigation.

(Side note: To show just how much Trump has changed perceptions and expectations of how a president acts, imagine for a second Barack Obama sending this same tweet out about Eric Holder or Loretta Lynch. It's literally impossible to conceive of.)

Add it up and here's what you get: Trump wants Sessions gone. But he doesn't want to swing the proverbial sword. He wants to make Sessions' life so uncomfortable that Sessions throws up his hands and walks away.

What does Trump do in the wake of that statement? Ramps up the rhetoric against Sessions so there can be no debate between reasonable people that Trump wants his attorney general to go do something else. But he doesn't do it to Sessions directly; he does it via a serious of public statements and leaks.

Sessions hasn't responded to this latest Trump volley. But, at this point, it is very tough for Sessions to simply ignore the message coming out of the White House. And that message is: We want you gone. So, go.

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Donald Trump doesn't want to fire Jeff Sessions. He wants Sessions to quit. - CNN

On Sunday, Trump's newly minted communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, acknowledged that the boss still isn't convinced.

Here's the thing: The debate over whether or not Russia engaged in a coordinated and widespread effort to meddle in the 2016 election isn't a debate. Everyone in a position to know -- from the intelligence community to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle -- believes that Russia did this.

The FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence all agree that not only was the meddling the work of the Russians but that it was designed to help Trump's campaign and hurt Hillary Clinton's.

The only person of any prominence who doubts those conclusions is the man sitting in the Oval Office. Trump is on an island, a man apart on the Russia issue. (The people who work for him, like Scaramucci, don't really count -- they are doing and saying what their boss tells them to.)

Trump's hesitancy to put the blame on Russia is beyond doubt. Why he is so unwilling to do so is a bit murkier -- although Scaramucci shed considerable light on the President's motivations in his Sunday interview with Tapper.

"The mainstream media position on this, that they interfered in the election," Scaramucci said. "It actually, in his mind, what are you guys suggesting? You're going to delegitimize his victory?"

And there you have it.

To Trump, any acknowledgment that Russia actively meddled in the 2016 election with the express purpose of helping him to win is the equivalent of saying he didn't win fair and square and maybe shouldn't have won at all.

When Trump hears Russia, he sees an attempt to rob him of the single greatest accomplishment in his life -- not to mention the best proof point he's had in his 71 years on earth that he is much, much smarter than the so-called elites.

It is, in his mind, a fundamental attack on not just his presidency but him. They are saying he didn't win because they can't accept that he proved them all wrong, Trump thinks to himself.

Which is, of course, bunk.

You can believe that Russia attempted to meddle in the election to benefit Trump AND that he won and is the duly elected President. It's not an either/or proposition.

The evidence suggests that Russia's coordinated release of emails gathered by a hack into the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's account played a role in the outcome. How big? It's virtually impossible to know given the variety of other factors -- most notably then-FBI Director James Comey's decision to re-open the Clinton email server case -- that influenced how voters made up their minds.

What Trump seems unable to accept is that no matter what Russia did, he still won. And that he will be President through 2020 no matter if he says that, sure, Russia meddled in our election, or not.

Trump's blind spot on Russia has caused him a huge amount of problems in his first six months in office as he and his staff twist themselves into pretzels to find alternative explanations for something the intelligence community is unanimous on.

Chalk it up to Trump being his own worst enemy -- again.

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Donald Trump may be the only politician who isn't sure Russia meddled in the election - CNN

(WASHINGTON) President Donald Trump pressured Republicans Monday to approve the Senate's wheezing health care bill, saying a showdown vote planned for this week is their "last chance to do the right thing" and erase the Obama health law.

Trump's prodding came a day before leaders have said the Senate will vote on legislation shredding much of President Barack Obama's health care law. Lacking the votes to push it through his chamber, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., postponed one roll call last month and hasn't yet announced exactly what version of the measure lawmakers would consider Tuesday.

"Republicans have a last chance to do the right thing on Repeal & Replace after years of talking & campaigning on it," Trump tweeted Monday.

Trump's contentious tone toward members of his own party underscored the high stakes as he tries winning Republican votes for a goal the GOP has trumpeted since the statute's 2010 enactment. He planned to make formal remarks on the health care legislation later Monday.

Characteristic of his scattershot effort on his party's health care drive, Trump also spent the morning tweeting insults at Democrats, the news media and his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, about their handling of investigations into his 2016 campaign's possible collusion with Russia.

On Sunday, the Senate GOP No. 3 leader said McConnell will decide soon on which health care bill to bring up for a vote, depending on ongoing discussions with GOP senators.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., sought to cast this week's initial vote as important but mostly procedural, allowing senators to begin debate and propose amendments. But he acknowledged that senators should be able to know beforehand what bill they will be considering.

"That's a judgment that Senator McConnell will make at some point this week before the vote," Thune said, expressing his own hope it will be a repeal-and-replace measure.

Senate Republicans are considering legislation that would repeal and replace Obama's law, and a separate bill that would simply repeal "Obamacare" with a two-year delay for implementation to give Congress more time to agree on a replacement.

Both versions encountered opposition from enough GOP senators to doom the effort, but McConnell is making a last-gasp attempt this week after Trump insisted that senators not leave town for the August recess without sending him some kind of health overhaul bill to sign.

In the Senate, Republicans hold a 52-48 majority. They can only afford to have one of their senators defect and still prevail on a health bill, assuming that Republican Sen. John McCain remains in Arizona, where he's being treated for brain cancer. Democrats are standing united in opposition.

Thune said no matter the outcome of the upcoming vote, senators would continue working to pass health legislation no matter how long it took.

At least two Republican senators Sunday appeared to reaffirm their intention to vote against the procedural motion if it involved the latest version of the GOP's repeal-and-replace bill.

Moderate Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she continued to have concerns about reductions to Medicaid and criticized the Republican process, saying lawmakers were being unfairly kept in the dark. Under McConnell's plan, 22 million more people would become uninsured by 2026, many of them Medicaid recipients. She wants to hold public hearings and work with Democrats.

"We don't know whether we're going to be voting on the House bill, the first version of the Senate bill, the second version of the Senate bill, a new version of the Senate bill, or a 2015 bill that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act," Collins said. "I don't think that's a good approach to replacing legislation that affects millions of people."

Conservative Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said he would only support a repeal-only bill. That version would reduce government costs but lead to 32 million additional uninsured people over a decade. At least three senators including Collins have previously expressed opposition to that plan.

"What are we opening debate to? Last week, Senate leadership said it would be a clean repeal ... and I think that's a good idea," Paul said. "The other alternative is the Senate leadership bill that doesn't repeal Obamacare, is Obamacare light and is loaded with pork. ... I'm not for that."

Thune appeared on "Fox News Sunday," Collins was on CBS' "Face the Nation," and Paul spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."

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President Trump to Republicans: It's Your 'Last Chance' to Approve Health Care Bill - TIME

In light of news reports that President Donald Trump's team is scouring the record for conflicts of interest on special counsel Robert Mueller's team (the essence of chutzpah) and contemplating pardons (of aides and/or himself), it is worth considering how this may all play out.

We offer several scenarios:

1. Trump orders Attorney General Jeff Sessions to fire Mueller. Sessions quits, as does Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand. Eventually someone agrees to fire Mueller. Republicans either will not pursue impeachment or are obliged to begin impeachment hearings but refuse to vote out articles of impeachment. In 2018, Democrats sweep to victory in the House and gain a seat or two in the Senate. Trump cannot be removed (two-thirds of the Senate is required for removal), but his presidency is in tatters. Some aides or ex-aides face criminal prosecution. LESSON: Republicans' failure to stand up to Trump early dooms his presidency and crashes the GOP.

2. Trump orders Attorney General Jeff Sessions to fire Mueller. Sessions quits, as does Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and Associate Attorney General Brand. Eventually someone agrees to fire Mueller. Republicans, together with Democrats, pass by a veto-proof majority an independent prosecutor statute. Before impeachment proceedings can finish, Democrats sweep to victory in 2018 in the House and gain a seat or two in the Senate. Trump cannot be removed, but his presidency is in tatters. Some aides or ex-aides face criminal prosecution. LESSON: Fire Mueller, and Congress will hire him back.

3. Republicans join Democrats in warning Trump not to fire Mueller. Mueller remains and keeps digging. Mueller subpoenas damaging documents; Trump refuses to comply. A court orders him to comply. He doesn't. We have a full-blown constitutional crisis. LESSON: Congress cannot delegate all responsibility to Mueller. It must conduct a parallel investigation and, if need be, commence impeachment proceedings.

4. Republicans join Democrats in warning Trump not to fire Mueller. Mueller remains and keeps digging. Mueller subpoenas damaging documents; Trump refuses to comply. A court orders him to comply. He declares this a witch hunt, an attack on his family (or whatever). Then he resigns, claiming he has already made America great. He tells the country that Vice President Mike Pence will carry on in his place. LESSON: Congress must protect Mueller and preserve the possibility that Trump may be forced to resign.

5. Republicans join Democrats in warning Trump not to fire Mueller. Mueller subpoenas damaging documents. Trump complies. The evidence of collusion and/or obstruction is overwhelming. Mueller recommends prosecution or impeachment. The GOP turns on Trump, who is impeached and removed (with the GOP by that time possibly in the minority in one or both houses). LESSON: Congress must protect Mueller and pay the price for failure to oppose Trump's nomination and election.

Is there a sixth scenario in which Mueller exonerates Trump? That's the least likely outcome after Trump has fired former FBI director James Comey and threatened the special counsel. Why would he do those things unless there was something really, really bad to find? And if there is something bad, Mueller will find it. You can understand then why Trump sounds frantic. In no scenario does Trump's presidency recover.

Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin is a Washington Post columnist.

What to read next:

What Mike Pence poses such a threat to Donald Trump

Sorry, Donald Trump. Presidents who don't win the popular vote seldom recover.

How much did Anthony Scaramucci sell his soul for?

How Donald Trump could pardon his family, or even himself

Continued here:
Donald Trump's presidency cannot be saved - Chicago Tribune

President Trump holding what is presumably the Trumpcare replacement for a proper vasectomy (Photo by Michael Reynolds - Pool/Getty Images)

Before the invention of smartphones, Americans were forced to play boardgames and interact with each other face-to-face like cave people. One such game was Trivial Pursuit, which may very well have predicted the future. How so? One of the questions in the 1980s edition of the game (released in the late 2000s, long before Trump announced his candidacy) feels like its warning us about today.

Journalist Jon Keegan tweeted out these photos, showing a question that stings quite a bit in retrospect. The question? What New Yorker said: If the world goes to hell in a handbasket, I wont lose a dollar? The answer? Donald Trump.

The quote is actually a bit imprecise. Trump actually said in 1989, If the world goes to hell in a handbasket, I wont lose a penny. But were running full steam ahead into that whole hell in a handbasket scenario it would seem.

Trumps policies are systematically breaking up families through ICE arrests of non-criminal undocumented immigrants (up 40 percent from the same time last year), Trump is promoting the destruction of health care in the US (22 million people would lose their insurance under the Republican proposal) and Trump praises other like-minded authoritarians (he said it was an honor to meet Vladimir Putin).

All the while, he and his family are personally profiting from the presidency in ways that havent been seen before in modern American history. Hes fired the FBI Director who was investigating his possible collusion with Russian interference in the 2016 election, the top ethics watchdog quit while saying that the US had become a laughingstock, and people like his son-in-law Jared Kushner are constantly revising their security and financial disclosure forms after several omissions. And thats all to say nothing of Trumps attacks on the free press and steady torrent of baldfaced lies.

Donald Trump is obviously the worst president the United States has had in the past half century, but his quote from 1989 definitely rings true today. The world, or at least Americas corner of it, is going to hell in a handbasket, and Trumps not going to lose a penny. In fact, he stands to become much richer with each passing day. Now Trump just needs to try and stay out of prison.

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Trivial Pursuit Predicted Donald Trump Profiting From the Destruction of America - Gizmodo