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Turn to Nancy Pelosi.

I know. I couldn't have been the only one who caught what looked like a snarl on his lips when he looked in her direction during his February speech to Congress.

Last week he blamed the Democrats -- and implicitly her -- for the GOP's failure to replace Obamacare. And on fundamental issues like tax cuts for the rich, undermining Planned Parenthood and denying climate change, turning toward her will likely be a complete non-starter.

But here's a secret: When it comes to passing legislation that's in the best interest of the American people and reflects the priorities of the House Democratic Caucus and candidates, Nancy Pelosi will work to deliver the votes, no matter who's holding the speaker's gavel or sitting in the Oval Office.

As a member of the House Democratic leadership, I saw firsthand that the path to a majority vote often went through the minority leader's office. I would sit in leadership meetings, in that room, amid baseball bats signed by her beloved San Francisco Giants and bowls filled with her favorite chocolates (I always appreciated the symbolism of sweets and baseball bats), while elsewhere, House Speaker Paul Ryan or then-Speaker John Boehner were struggling to round up Republican votes to pass legislation vital to the administration of our government.

Whenever they fell short on their side of the aisle, her phone would ring.

In every instance, her calculation was clear: If the bill advanced the national interest, reflected consensus in her caucus and didn't deviate from the strategic imperative of achieving a Democratic majority, she produced the necessary votes.

President Trump's negotiating options will be increasingly limited if his plan is to write off 193 Democrats as he tries to advance an agenda, especially as Freedom Caucus members flex their muscles, leaving Republicans in moderate districts with the sense that they are losing their grip.

The fact is, the next vote on the debt ceiling, a government shutdown, or sending emergency funds to a blue state ravaged by a natural disaster will require the President to deal with Democrats.

Regardless of whether it's done behind closed doors or in front of a camera, if President Trump has any interest in governing, then sooner or later he will have to invite Leader Pelosi to the table.

And if that sounds to President Trump like "fake news," then perhaps he should call Speaker Ryan or former Speaker Boehner to ask them how many times Nancy Pelosi has bailed them out in order to advance the country.

Then, call Pelosi.

Read the rest here:
Donald Trump, call Nancy Pelosi - CNN

This isnt the article I planned to write.

What I had wanted to do was to see if Donald Trumps use of exclamation points bore any relationship to how he might be faring in the polls. That was prompted by a tweet from my colleague Chris Ingraham, who separately is breaking out Trumps enthusiasm in that regard. As it turns out, there isnt a correlation: no correlation to his primary polling, his general polling, his favorability polling or his approval polling. Or, for that matter the relative lead or deficit in that polling or net favorability or approval.

To check that, though, I ended up pulling all of that data. And, as it turns out, the data by itself is interesting.

For example, here is the actual primary and general polling average, the daily average favorability ratings and the daily Gallup rating Trump has seen since he announced his candidacy in June 2015.

Youll notice that at no point, save for a few individual days of favorability ratings, has Trump been above 50 percent. Trumps favorability ratings ticked up after the election, but even so remained under 50 percent. His polling average in the primary was never above 50 percent, nor was it ever above 50 percent in the general. Trump was also the only candidate in the modern era of presidential primaries to win despite earning less than 50 percent of the vote in both the primary and the general.

If we look at those relative values, the picture is slightly different. This shows Trumps lead in the primary average, deficits in the general and net favorability or job approval over time.

During the general election, he almost always trailed. His favorability was almost always underwater, often significantly. His Gallup approval rating started about even and then trended down.

The primary, though, was a different story. The Republican presidential primary has been the apex of Trumps political strength so far, with a consistent national lead that powered him through the those contests (although often only narrowly). Put another way: Trump has only being doing well when the pool of people being considered consists only of Republicans.

In Gallups weekly averages since inauguration, its Republicans that have kept his approval ratings as high as they are.

Only a third of independents approve of how hes doing. Only 8 percent of Democrats agree.

Its enough to make anyone tweet angrily.

See original here:
A brief history of how America feels about Donald Trump - Washington Post

Deadline

Sean Spicer Is Donald Trump's Twitter Translator At White House Press Briefing Deadline Thursday night, Michael Flynn's attorney very publicly announced the retired lieutenant general was seeking immunity in exchange for talking to various groups investigating Russian tampering with the election and if anyone on Team Trump colluded. Flynn ... A Beginner's Guide to the Trump/Russia ControversyNational Review The attempted cover-up of Donald Trump's relationship with Russia is slowly falling apartRaw Story Analysis: Ex-NSA aide's tale a headache for Donald TrumpBoston Herald all 981 news articles »

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Sean Spicer Is Donald Trump's Twitter Translator At White House Press Briefing - Deadline

TRUMPS SCHEDULE:

10 a.m.: President Donald Trump will meet with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the Oval Office.

10:30 a.m.: Trump will receive his daily intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.

11 a.m.: Trump will make an announcement with the National Association of Manufacturers in the Roosevelt Room.

3 p.m.: Trump will meet with NIH director Francis Collins in the Oval Office.

4:45 p.m.: Trump will meet with OMB director Mick Mulvaney in the Oval Office.

OTHER HAPPENINGS: Press secretary Sean Spicer will brief the press at the White House at 1 p.m.

HAPPENING TODAY: From POLITICOs Doug Palmer: President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Friday instructing his administration to examine the causes of the U.S. trade deficits with China and other major trading partners and report back to him within 90 days for possible action to reduce the gaps. This will represent the first systematic analysis of what are the causes [of the deficit] country by country and product by product, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters at the White House Thursday evening. It will form the basis for decision-making by the administration subsequently and that will be decision-making that will be based on hard facts, not theories. Trump, who is hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping for talks next week in Palm Beach, Fla., also will sign a second executive order directing Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to strengthen the collection of penalties on unfairly traded foreign products.

BREAKING LAST NIGHT: Former national security adviser Michael Flynn is seeking assurances against unfair prosecution in order to provide interviews to congressional panels investigating possible collusion between Trump aides and Moscow, his lawyer said in a written statement. The statement came after a report in The Wall Street Journal that Flynn has told the FBI and congressional committees he is willing to testify in exchange for immunity from prosecution, write POLITICOs Austin Wright, Josh Meyer and Martin Matishak.

TRUMPS TWITTER THIS MORNING: Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!

TRAVEL BAN UPDATE: From POLITICOs Josh Gerstein: The Trump administration is appealing the broadest judicial order currently blocking President Donald Trump's revised travel ban directive. The Justice Department filed a formal notice Thursday appealing U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson's preliminary injunction suspending Trump's executive order that sought to halt the issuance of visas to citizens of six Muslim-majority countries and held up refugee admissions from across the globe.

IT KEEPS GETTING WORSE FOR NUNES: From POLITICOs Austin Wright: Did the White House seek to launder information through the House Intelligence Committee? Thats the question Rep. Adam Schiff, the panels top Democrat, asked Thursday as new details emerged about Chairman Devin Nunes secret visit to the White House grounds last week to view what he claims was possible evidence of wrongdoing by the Obama administration. Nunes briefed President Donald Trump on the evidence the next day, even though it reportedly came from high-level White House staffers who likely could have taken the information to the president themselves, rather than first deliver it to Nunes. The behavior by the California Republican and the White House has led to an outcry from Democrats, who say he has shown he is too close to Trump to lead an impartial investigation into Russias meddling in the presidential election, including the possibility of collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

Matthew Nussbaum is a White House reporter for POLITICO.

Continue reading here:
TRUMP'S SCHEDULE: - Politico (blog)

New York Times

Donald Trump's Parrot New York Times We are not yet worrying about what our parrots might blurt out in Donald Trump's America. But there are disturbing signs. This presidency is about the fear-driven closing of borders and minds. In his magisterial novel Humboldt's Gift, Saul Bellow ...

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Donald Trump's Parrot - New York Times