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Some people simply cannot handle the fact that Donald Trump was elected president.

One of those people is Donald Trump.

Trump has shown himself intellectually and emotionally incapable of making the transition from minor entertainment figure to major political figure. He is in the strange position of being a B-list celebrity who is also the most famous man in the world. His recent Twitter attack on Mika Brzezinski of MSNBCs Morning Joe exemplifies that as much as it does the presidents other by-now-familiar pathologies, notably his strange psychological need to verbally abuse women in physical terms.

Trump may have his problems with women, but it is his unrequited love of the media that is undoing him.

I always tell the president, You dont need them, says Sean Hannity, the self-abasing monkey-butler of the Trump regime. The president, Hannity says, can reach more Americans via Twitter than he could through the conventional media. That isnt true, of course: Only about one in five Americans uses Twitter. Hannity might be forgiven for not knowing this, a consequence of his much more general habit of not knowing things. But he actually does know the president. How could he possibly believe that this man this man does not need them?

He needs them the way a junkie needs his junk.

Donald Trump cares more about how he is perceived in the media than he cares about anything else in the world, including money. Trump is a true discipline of Bishop Berkeley, professing the creed of the social-media age: Esse eat percipi To be is to be seen. Trump is incapable of enjoying anything money, success, sex without being perceived enjoying it.

Consider: Even though he has in fact been on the cover of Time magazine, it was discovered this week that he had had his people produce some fake Time magazine covers lauding the success of his television show, The Apprentice. He had these fake Time covers displayed at Trump properties around the world. Why? Because Trump, for all his professed contempt for the media, believes that success is not success until it is certified by Time magazine or (avert thine eyes, Hannity!) the New York Times.

Donald Trump is a man who invented an imaginary friend, John Barron, to call up members of the New York press and lie to them about his business success and his sex life. (He claimed, among other things, to be dating Carla Bruni.) A man who does not need the media does not do that.

Trump wrote of the third lady that he chose her because he wanted to be able to enter a room with her and make other men envious to see grown men weep a very strange admission that his satisfaction in his marriage rests neither with himself nor with his wife but with third parties who might ogle her. (His cuckoldry-obsessed fans must surely have noted this.) But envious of what? Asked during a public appearance whether shed have married Trump if he werent rich, she answered: If I werent beautiful, do you think hed be with me? There is a certain clarity in that, one of a very familiar sort.

As president and president-elect, Trump spent a great deal of time tweeting about his ratings as host of The Apprentice and those of his successor, about the ratings of various news programs covering him, about the viewerships and readerships of various media outlets, generally theorizing that those critical of him must by moral necessity be in decline. On the other hand, he plainly does not know that there are tax provisions in the health-care bill Republicans are trying to drag out of Congress: He was perplexed when they came up at a White House meeting with Republican senators, saying that he was planning on taking on tax reform at a later date, oblivious to the content of the bill he purports to be negotiating. He doesnt understand whats going on between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but has taken to Twitter to argue surprise that, whatever it is, its all about him.

What do you think he reads first in the morning: His national-security briefing or Page Six?

Id wager that Trump could list at least three times as many cable-news commentators as world leaders. He is much better versed in CNNs lineup than in NATOs.

Doesnt need the media? He is the media, a former contract employee at NBC with a sideline in casinos. He was born to conduct Twitter feuds with second-tier cable-television hosts. Figuring out health-care policy?

Nobody watches that.

READ MORE: Why Trumps Vengeful Tweeting Matters Trumps Pettiness Is Damaging His Agenda Trump Should Get Off His Phoneand Start Lying to My Face

Kevin D. Williamson is National Reviews roving correspondent.

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Junkie Running Dry - National Review

As part of his America First principles, president Donald Trump and the steel industry figures he has brought into his administration, including commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, are planning to overrule virtually his entire cabinet to impose 20% tariffs on steel imports, Axios reports. They plan to cite national security concerns.

Aside from angering US allies and undermining global trade norms, the first victims of such a policy are likely to be American workers who make things with steel.

Here are the simple economics: There are 60,000 US workers employed in the steel and iron-working industry. More than 900,000 American workers make cars and car parts out of that steel. While tariffs will be a boon to the domestic steel industry, driving up prices, those same price increases will make using that steel more expensive, especially in a competitive global market. Driving up prices of raw materials is a good incentive to move manufacturing overseas.

We even have an object lesson: In 2002, president George W. Bush imposed tariffs on steel imports for much the same reason as Trumpcombatting cheap imports from other countriesbut ended them when the World Trade Organization ruled them illegal. Over the 18 months that the tariffs were imposed, a spike in steel prices put 200,000 workers out of their jobs, according to a study (pdf) paid for by companies who buy steel. Some of the states with concentrated job losses were those that were key to Trumps victory in 2016, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Florida.

Its true that the steel industry has suffered in the US and Europe thanks in part to state-backed firms in China dumping cheap steel on the international market. But unilateral tariffs dont promise a simple solution, since the US bought less than 2% of Chinas steel exports in 2015, and less than 1% last year, a result of 20 trade remediesrules that limit unfair salesincluding four that went into effect last December after court wins against China by the Obama administration. Most US steel imports come from Brazil, Canada and South Korea.

The policy-making process on steel appears seems similar to the one that resulted in restrictions on travel to Cuba. In that case, as with steel, most officials argued that the US would be better served by normalization but were overruled by a handful of White House advisers.

Other policies might do a better job of fixing the US steel industry. A confusing thicket of regulations, for example, means that companies melting down raw steel imported from abroad can sell their finished product under rules that privilege American manufacturers, while those that use more modern technology to heat and press raw steel from abroad dont get the same preferential treatment.

This is the challenge of industrial policy: Its very hard to intervene in one sector of the economy without creating unintended consequences in another. The steel industry may see gains from higher prices, but workers up the value chain will suffer. When Bushs tariffs went into place, Ford and GM challenged him in court. Were likely to see the same scenario this time around, so expect to see a clash of Donald Trump versus Americas carmakers.

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Donald Trump is planning a trade war, and the first casualty will be American jobs - Quartz

The controversy was yet another reminder, a few days ahead of America's birthday, that Trump is a leader like no other in the nation's 241-year history, who plans to stay true to himself and is willing to flout norms of decorum.

The longer such antics go on, more and more people will question whether the leader of the free world is not just damaging his own presidency, but demeaning the office itself and potentially diminishing it for whoever comes after him.

"It's unworthy of the office of President of the United States," Maine Sen. Susan Collins told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "And I am concerned about how we look in the eyes of the world as well as our own citizens."

Thursday's tweets focused attention on Trump's coarse brand of political discourse, and his ironclad principle that anyone who criticizes him, as Brzezinski did on her show on Thursday, can expect a gut punch in return.

His tweet outraged political leaders in Washington and renewed debate about the President's history of disparaging remarks about women. It left allies fuming about yet another day when his political agenda was drowned out by Trump-induced tumult.

But on a deeper level, the shocking tweet, which claimed that the "Morning Joe" host had been "bleeding badly from a facelift," raised questions about whether his behavior was appropriate from a head of state, about his respect for his office itself, and whether this presidency could irrevocably erode the standards of dignity that have grown around it since George Washington swore the first oath of office in New York City in 1789.

The New York Daily News revealed its Friday cover -- a bald eagle, head hanging down as if in shame, with "humiliation" in capital letters.

For a sense of proportion, it might also be said that his tweets, while often misrepresenting facts and dealing in personal attacks, pale in comparison to the actions of some of his predecessors. Also casting the presidency in a poor light were President Bill Clinton's Oval Office encounters with an intern and President Richard Nixon's cover-up that led to his resignation over the Watergate scandal.

Yet Trump's demeanor obviously falls short of the elevated standards established by the likes of Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan, and appears to risk fraying that faith in his office still further.

Unlike some of those leaders, it is not clear that Trump regards the presidency as a public trust to be preserved and passed onto successive generations. He often seems more concerned with his own image than the reputation of the presidency itself, as his fixation with the size of his election victory and inauguration crowds has revealed.

Trump does not exist in a vacuum. He is an expression of a polarized political age that lacks civility, shaped by reality television and instant emotional kick of social media that has shattered political and societal norms.In many ways, Trump seems to be exactly the same personality who lived out his life in the New York tabloids and swapped smutty stories with radio host Howard Stern.

So far at least, he doesn't seem to be changed by the responsibilities heaped on his shoulders.

But while his unchained style helped him win the presidency, it may be undermining his chances of significant achievements now that he is in office.

That's because the presidency is more than a job. The pageantry, from the Oval Office, to the "beast" limousine, to Air Force One as it jets into a foreign land, conjures up a mystique and a statement of power -- that Trump appears not yet to have harnessed to its full potential.

His White House's war with the media, the chaos that pervades the administration, and the fact the President dispels his own elevated aura by inviting the world into his mind every day on his Twitter feed also seem at risk of diminishing the unique power and prestige of his office.

Many Presidents were flawed men who made questionable moral choices. But most at least tried to keep their anger and most unguarded inner thoughts private, a safety valve that Trump seems to lack.

Trump's tweet was far from his only outrageous comment as a candidate or a President. But it appeared to set off a pent-up explosion of anger towards Trump over weeks of patience-fraying political tribulations.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina tweeted: "Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America."

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski tweeted: "Stop it! The Presidential platform should be used for more than bringing people down."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, who normally swerves away from Trump tweets, said this one was not "appropriate" and didn't help efforts to change the political tone. Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey told CNN's Jake Tapper it was "maddening."

In some ways, the outpouring of criticism toward Trump was surprising precisely because his attack on Brzezinski was not all that surprising.

After all, he has a long record of incendiary comments toward his perceived opponents in the media, and directed at women particularly.

During his campaign, he insulted John McCain's war record, made vulgar comments about then Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and berated the grieving Muslim parents of a fallen war hero. As President, he claimed he was being wiretapped by the previous administration without evidence and seemed to suggest he may have tapes of conversations with FBI chief James Comey.

This time it seemed different, perhaps because the bullying tweet aimed at Brzezinski was another tweet targeted from the White House -- the people's house -- by a man who is the President of all Americans.

That may explain why few came to Trump's defense, save for his loyal deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in an abrasive encounter with the White House press corps.

"The President has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by members on that program, and I think he's been very clear that when he gets attacked, he's going to hit back," Huckabee Sanders said.

"They do this day after day after day, and then the President responds and defends himself and everybody is appalled and blown away," she added.

But Trump's skin does seem particularly thin. Presidents have long been mercilessly attacked but have often chosen to respond in a manner in keeping with the dignity of an office that Washington called an "arduous trust" in his farewell address.

The last two Presidents, for example, have often fumed privately. After the Iraq War degenerated into a bloody insurgency, George W. Bush was relentlessly attacked over his intellect and leadership skills. But he rarely snapped in public.

President Barack Obama, the first African-American commander in chief, endured a character assassination over claims he was not even born in the United States -- conducted by Trump himself -- and only rarely displayed his public disgust for his accuser.

Trump's supporters, by this time, are well used to his eruptions on Twitter and elsewhere, and may shrug their shoulders at his assault on a mainstream media figure.

In fact, Huckabee said, Trump's bombast was the reason he is in the White House.

"The American people elected somebody who's tough, who's smart, and who's a fighter, and that's Donald Trump. And I don't think that it's a surprise to anybody that he fights fire with fire," she said.

History suggests it will take more than explosive tweets to tarnish the Oval Office.

"I am not sure that any damage to the office will be permanent because I cannot see another President like Trump being replicated," said Lori Cox Han, an author and professor who teaches courses on the presidency at Chapman University, California.

"I think of the office of the presidency as being incredibly resilient -- it survived Bill Clinton's impeachment, Richard Nixon's resignation ... survived the Civil War," Han said. "It and our Constitution will survive Trump -- no matter what side of the aisle you happen to be on."

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Delegitimizing his presidency, one tweet at a time - CNN

Her tough tone to some degree served as domestic political posturing ahead of elections in the fall. Martin Schulz, her main opponent, criticized her for not standing up more forcefully to President Trump.

Mr. Trump is expected to meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia on the sidelines of the meeting in Hamburg.

Germany infuriated the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is also expected to attend the meeting, by rejecting his request to hold a rally for Turkish expatriate supporters there.

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In the U.S., lawyers and activists fanned out to airports as President Trumps travel ban went into effect. The State Department issued new guidelines on how to enforce the close family test on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries.

We obtained a diplomatic cable that lays them out: Parents, spouses, children, in-laws and stepchildren qualify as close family. But grandparents, aunts and uncles do not. Here are the details.

Separately, Mr. Trump faced a bipartisan backlash after he assailed a television host in strikingly crude terms on Twitter.

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In Britain, the shaky government of Prime Minister Theresa May won Parliaments approval of its legislative program thanks to the support of 10 lawmakers from the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland.

In a sign of the governments precariousness, it agreed to fund abortions in England for women from Northern Ireland amid pressure from an emboldened opposition and from within Conservatives ranks.

It was an early rebuff for the staunchly conservative D.U.P., which opposes abortion (and gay marriage).

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Sports roundup: Germany reached the Confederations Cup finals in a riveting 4-1 victory over Mexico. They will face Chile in the soccer tournaments finale in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday.

Wimbledon looms. Rafael Nadal will seek to extend his victory spree, on grass courts. And Venus Williams is expected to play, despite her involvement in a car crash on June 9 in Florida that resulted in a fatality.

And the Tour de France begins tomorrow, in the German city of Dsseldorf. Heres a stage-by-stage guide.

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Station F, a new start-up incubator in Paris, is a symbol of Frances ambitions to become Europes start-up capital. But some wonder if the land of the 35-hour workweek can overcome its cultural and regulatory barriers to competitiveness.

Rupert Murdochs long quest to buy Sky hasnt ended. The British authorities asked regulators to further examine 21st Century Foxs deal for the European satellite giant.

A cautionary speech by Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, spooked the European bond market, then selling spread to global stocks.

Heres a snapshot of global markets.

Iraqi troops recaptured what is left of the historic Al Nuri Grand Mosque in Mosul, which was destroyed by retreating Islamic State militants. Experts say the group is increasingly resorting to insurgent tactics. [The New York Times]

Pope Francis granted a leave of absence to Cardinal George Pell, the Vaticans de facto finance chief who has been charged with sexual assault, so that he could return to Australia to defend himself. [The New York Times]

A court in Russia convicted five Chechens in the 2015 assassination of Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader. His family dismissed the trial as a cover-up. [The New York Times]

In a Parisian suburb, a man was arrested after apparently attempting to drive into a crowd outside a mosque. No one was injured. [France 24]

In Greece, the cleanup after a lengthy strike by garbage collectors has begun. [Kathimerini]

Prosecutors in Macedonia are seeking to arrest Nikola Gruevski, a former longtime prime minister, on charges that include election fraud. [Balkan Insight]

Our former Hong Kong bureau chief, now in Shanghai, writes that the former British colony is losing its luster 20 years after its return to China. [The New York Times]

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

Kubaneh, a Jewish Yemeni bread, was traditionally cooked overnight on a Friday, ready for Shabbat breakfast the next day. It is sweet and supple and shot through with butter to create a melting, airy delight. Heres a recipe.

Samin Nosrat, our newest food columnist, shares the quintessential books that informed the way she thinks about food, cooking and writing.

Stop Pretending Youre Not Rich. This opinion piece has been one of our most popular articles this month. Forget the 1 percent for the moment, the writer argues. Its the top fifth that rules.

And knotting cherry stems with your tongue doesnt have any practical purpose other than serendipity. Anyway, heres a guide.

Italys Klondike: Competitors from around the world descended on Piedmont for the Italian Goldpanning Championship. They found nuggets the size of bread crumbs.

The Diagnoses column looks at hard-to-solve medical case studies. The latest is about a woman surviving typhus, in part thanks to a joke about flying squirrels.

The rhythm of love: Palm cockatoos are the only animals observed to use tools for rhythmic drumming, seemingly to attract mates.

Many visit Bergen en route to dramatic fjords. But the city itself, Norways second-largest, is well worth a visit too. Come for aquavit (the gin of the Nordics) and an all-are-welcome cultural scene. But bring an umbrella.

Canada celebrates its 150th birthday tomorrow.

Ian Austen, our correspondent, tells us that not everyone will be partying for Canada 150.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, an Inuit filmmaker, is among those who say that Canada 15,000 would better reflect the countys history. And Quebec saves its party spirit for the Fte Nationale on June 24.

But in a country where summer can be all too brief, Mr. Austen writes, Canada Day remains the main event, and Ottawa is the place to celebrate.

Military jets will perform flybys, performers will perform, politicians will make speeches, and fireworks will burst. The government is promising that it will all be bigger and better for the special anniversary except possibly the political speeches, Mr. Austen says.

Queen Elizabeth of Britain, who is also Canadas head of state, is sending Prince Charles, though he gets a more indifferent welcome than his sons. (The photo above shows Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, arriving in Nunavut yesterday.)

And, perhaps incongruously, the Irish band U2 will perform before a crowd of hundreds of thousands, a staggering number of whom will have red maple leaves painted on their faces, Mr. Austen notes.

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This briefing was prepared for the European morning. We also have briefings timed for the Australian, Asian and American mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters here.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online.

What would you like to see here? Contact us at europebriefing@nytimes.com.

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Angela Merkel, Donald Trump, Wimbledon: Your Friday Briefing - New York Times

As her show Morning Joe was ending, Mr. Trump taunted Ms. Brzezinski as low I.Q. Crazy Mika who had been bleeding badly from a face-lift at Mar-a-Lago in December. Ms. Brzezinski responded by posting a photograph of a box of Cheerios with the words, Made For Little Hands.

In other White House news, the presidents national security adviser said Mr. Trump would meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Hamburg next week.

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3. Speaking of the G-20, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is predicting very tough climate and trade talks with the U.S. there.

A new study in the journal Science explores the economic harm that climate change could inflict on the U.S. in the coming century. The greatest impact: a projected increase in heat wave deaths that would hit parts of the Midwest and Southeast especially hard. Above, a scene from Phoenix this month.

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4. Republican leaders, in retreat from the bruising battle over the health care bill, said they were considering proposals to keep one of the Affordable Care Acts taxes on high-income people.

Also under discussion: more money to combat the opioid epidemic and new incentives for people to establish tax-free savings accounts for medical expenses. Above, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, and the majority whip, John Cornyn.

The late-night host Samantha Bee saw a parallel between Washington and Hollywood. It turns out, 13 rich white guys alone in a room isnt how good legislation happens, she quipped. Its how Suicide Squad happens.

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5. Twice in the past month, N.S.A. cyberweapons stolen from its arsenal have been turned against American allies. The agency has kept quiet, not acknowledging its role in developing the weapons, and prompting criticism that its hoarding knowledge that could stop the attacks.

Many are asking if the U.S. intelligence agencies rushed to create digital weapons that they cannot keep safe.

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6. Pope Francis granted a leave of absence to Cardinal George Pell, a top Vatican official who has been charged with sexual assault, so that he could return to Australia to defend himself.

The Australian police have yet to reveal the details of the charges or the ages of the complainants. Cardinal Pell, above, said he is innocent and denounced what he called a relentless character assassination.

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7. President Xi Jinping of China arrived in Hong Kong for ceremonies marking the anniversary of the former British colonys return to Chinese rule. Thousands of police officers were deployed to keep protesters at bay.

Our correspondent says that Hong Kong was seen as a rare blend of East and West that China might seek to emulate. But now its racked by problems, like a dire lack of affordable housing, amid fighting over its political future.

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8. This is our moment, fellas. Now make me proud.

That was our columnist, Tyler Kepner, noting the proliferation of major league baseball players who share his first name. He counted 30 in the last two seasons, and the Yankees now have four.

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9. Seeing a movie over what many people are treating as a holiday weekend?

Our critic calls Baby Driver, the new action movie from the director Edgar Wright, a pop pastiche par excellence.

The film follows a getaway driver named Baby, played by Ansel Elgort, as a heist goes wrong. Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm and other notable names join him on screen.

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10. Finally, in the name of service journalism, we taste-tested 10 hot dogs for your summertime cookouts.

The winners were Wellshire Farms (smoky, herby) and good old Hebrew National (the peoples hot dog). The losers evoked adjectives like funky and flaccid.

Have a great night.

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Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help.

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Donald Trump, Senate, George Pell: Your Evening Briefing - New York Times