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In Miami, the crowd was standing and cheering Friday as President Trump smiled broadly after pledging to reverse key provisions of the Obama administrations historic Cuba opening.

A world away, in Portland, Maine, Ben Rhodes could not contain his frustration.

The few people in Miami enabling Trump in carrying out this charade should be embarrassed/held accountable, Rhodes wrote on Twitter. He could care less about Cubans.

It was the first of four tweets Rhodes, a foreign policy aide to former president Barack Obama, fired off attacking Trump as the president was speaking. Rhodes was in Maine to attend the wedding of a fellow Obama alum, speechwriter Jon Favreau, but that had not stopped him from fighting back against Trump. In the morning, Rhodes had published an essay on The Atlantics website titled, Trumps Cuba Policy Will Fail.

For Rhodes, the moment represented both a policy setback for the United States and a personal letdown. He had played a leading role in the secret, high-wire negotiations with the Castro regime that led to the restoration of diplomatic ties in 2015 after 54 years. That role was so meaningful that it is highlighted in Rhodes Twitter bio: Obama foreign policy adviser and speechwriter. Mets fan, Cuba negotiator, dad to Ella and Chloe.

(Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

In an interview, Rhodes said he took solace that Trump, who put new limits on commercial transactions and U.S. citizens travel to the island nation, had not ended diplomatic relations.

But personally, part of what makes it difficult [to accept] is that we were six years into the administration and spent a year and a half of exhaustive negotiations before announcing the Cuba opening, said Rhodes, who coincidentally spoke at a Cuban entrepreneurship event in Miami on Monday. They seemed to do this in such a slipshod way. Years of work and painstaking negotiations are countered by what feels like very minimal work and thought.

Rhodes isnt the only Obama administration veteran who seems to be experiencing personal pain as Trump strips away portions of the 44th presidents legacy on immigration, trade, the environment and, perhaps, health care. Ensconced in think tanks in Washington and New York, or in the private sector on both coasts, the Obama alumni network has become a diaspora of the disappointed as Trump tries to make good on his promises to upend much of what they had worked to accomplish.

I felt short of breath and like there was a dagger in my heart, said Wendy Cutler, former acting deputy U.S. trade ambassador who spent three years helping negotiate the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord from which Trump withdrew the United States on his third day in office.

Cutler, now a vice president at the Asia Society, had left USTR on an emotional high one week after she had been among the U.S. delegation in Atlanta in Oct. 2015 when the TPP, the largest regional pact in history, was completed.

On Jan. 23, when Trump held an Oval Office event to announce the U.S. withdrawal, Cutler was in her eighth-floor office in Dupont Circle. She couldnt bear to watch.

When I give speeches, a lot of Asian colleagues are stunned, Cutler said. Even though they watched the campaign and knew the agreement was in trouble, they cannot come to terms with how quickly this happened.

Every transfer of the White House between political parties means a sharp shift of policy focus. But the handoff between Obama and Trump has been particularly disorienting, given their polar opposite views of the world and rhetorical means of expressing it.

Obama tried to buck up his staff a day after Trumps election victory during a speech in the Rose Garden, when he told scores of somber-looking aides, some tearful, to keep their heads up. But it has been increasingly difficult.

For Cecilia Muoz, who spent two decades as a leading immigrant rights advocate before serving as Obamas White House domestic policy adviser, the Trump wrecking ball followed her to the end of the earth.

After serving eight years in the Obama White House, Muoz had booked a hiking vacation in New Zealand to begin the day after Obama left office January 20 traveling as far from the United States as she could get.

Six days after she arrived in New Zealand, however, Trump announced a sweeping travel ban on citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries, sowing chaos at several airports as federal authorities detained dozens of travelers.

I checked in [on the news] a couple times a day to be aware of what was happening, much to my husbands dismay, said Muoz, now a vice president at the New America think tank. Then I worked off my feelings on the hikes.

The good news for the Obama world is that Trump, at least so far, has not brought quite as much radical change as he promised on the campaign trail. He backed off suggestions that his administration would seek to end the U.S. involvement in the NATO alliance. He has not ended a deferred action program for some undocumented immigrants. The travel ban was halted by the courts. And Congress has balked at Trumps proposal to spend billions for a wall on the Mexico border.

On the flip side, Trump has installed a conservative Supreme Court Justice, withdrawn the United States from the Paris climate accord, moved to relax broad swaths of Obamas regulatory agenda and drastically reduced the acreage of national lands the former president had sought to preserve as federal monuments.

The Republican-led Senate is nearing a vote on legislation to repeal Obamas signature health care law.

If you live in NV, AK, ME, OH, WV, AZ or CO please call your Senators and tell them not to pass #Trumpcare. We need to pressure them now, Tommy Vietor, a former Obama foreign policy spokesman, wrote on Twitter this week.

Vietor and several other former Obama aides including Favreau and fellow speechwriter Jon Lovett, as well as political adviser Dan Pfeiffer have been among the most outspoken Obama alums through Pod Save America, a twice-weekly podcast aimed at fomenting opposition to the Trump presidency.

Their guest on June 1 was Brian Deese, a former Obama senior adviser who had worked closely on the Paris climate accord. Deese called into the show from his home in Portland, Maine, just hours before Trump was scheduled to appear in the White House Rose Garden to announce his decision on whether to withdraw from the Paris deal.

In an interview Friday, Deese said he later felt compelled to watch Trumps announcement and found it incredibly frustrating because it was all predicated on a totally false premise.

Deese remains buoyed by the possibility that the Obama administrations efforts to get countries such as China and India to sign on to reducing carbon emissions will pay long-term dividends despite Trumps actions. On a personal level, however, he found the presidents rationale embarrassing.

I have trouble explaining the logic to my 4-year-old daughter, he said.

Asked if she understands how hard he worked on the global accord, Deese was hopeful.

I think she has a sense of what her dad was fighting for, he said.

More:
'A dagger in my heart': Obama alums struggle to adjust to a Trumpian world - Washington Post

Former President Barack Obama inducted rapper Shawn Jay Z Carter into the Songwriters Hall of Fame Thursday and opened up about the bond that cements his unlikely friendship with the hip-hop legend.

Carter who is the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Hall of Fame was recognized for his prolific songwriting career and award-winning collaborations.

In pre-taped remarks, Obama said Jay Z should also be considered a "true American original" for charting his own path to success, despite adversity.

I like to think Mr. Carter and I understand each other, Obama said. Nobody who met us as younger men would have expected us to be where we are today.

We know what its like not to have a father around. We know what its like not to come from much, and to know people who didnt get the same breaks that we did.

Related: Did Obama Just Reveal the Sex of Beyonc and Jay Z's Twins?

Carter, who was born and raised in housing projects in Brooklyn, was involved with dealing drugs before turning his life around to become one of the best-selling musicians of all-time. He has won 21 Grammys, sold more than 100 million albums and had 13 records debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, according to the Hall of Fame.

In 2003, Carter retired from hip-hop but would go on to release several albums over the next decade while expanding business empire. Although Obama praised Carters success as a musician, he also said the rapper should be recognized for his efforts to give back to his community and his devotion to his family.

We try to prop open those doors of opportunity so its a little easier for those who come up behind us to come up as well, he said. Jay and I are also fools for our daughters, although hes going to have me beat once those two twins show up.

And lets face it, we both have wives who are significantly more popular than we are, he quipped.

Carter who is expecting twins with his wife, pop superstar Beyonc Knowles was not present at the ceremony.The Obamas and the Carters developed a high-profile friendship during the early days of the 2008 campaign for the White House.

Related: Beyonc Shows Off Baby Bump In Stunning Maternity Shoot

At a rally, then-candidate Obama gave a nod to the Brooklyn rappers hit Dirt Off Your Shoulders by brushing his shoulders when talking about the divisive political rhetoric of the campaign. Beyonc memorably sang a cover of Etta James' "At Last" for the Obama's first dance as president and first lady, and caused minor controversy when she was caught lip-synching "The Star Spangled Banner" at his second inauguration.

Obama said he sampled lyrics from Carters song My President in the conclusion of his speech at the 50th anniversary of the March on Selma, and that he once tweeted a reference to Carters My First Song while he was writing his final State of the Union address.

President Barack Obama is hugged on stage by Jay-Z as Bruce Springsteen looks on at a campaign event at in Columbus, Ohio in 2012. Carolyn Kaster / AP file

Carter has frequently alluded to exchanging texts with Obama in interviews, and gave a nod to the country's first black president in the song "My President," rapping in one verse, "Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run/Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly."

Obama returned the admiration in his speech Thursday.

Like all of you I am a fan, and Ive been listening to Jay since I was a young and hungry state senator, Obama said. Im pretty sure Im still the only president to listen to Jay Zs music in the Oval Office.

But Obama said above all, he admires Carter for remaining true to himself, and closed the speech by sharing a quote from the rapper that he said inspired him: I never looked at myself and said that I need to be a certain way to be around a certain sort of people. Ive always wanted to stay true to myself, and Ive managed to do that, people have to accept that.

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Obama Honors Jay Z at Songwriters Hall of Fame - NBCNews.com

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Trump Announces Rollback of Obama's Cuba Policy Wall Street Journal (subscription) President Donald Trump said Friday he is canceling the Obama administration's historic shift to a more open stance toward Cuba, taking particular aim at travel and transactions with Cuba's military but leaving many policies in place. The most ...

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Trump Announces Rollback of Obama's Cuba Policy - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

In celebration of Jay Z's induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, former president Barack Obama recorded a touching tribute to the rapper. Jay Z tweeted the video on June 15. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)

Jay Z made history Thursday by becoming the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The man who helped present the award was another trailblazer, the nations first black president, Barack Obama. The two have much in common, as Obama mentioned in his speech.

Perhaps the most immediate thing they have in common, though, was that neither man was actually at the event. Obama gave his speech in a prerecorded video, and Jay Z tweeted about it later. E! reported the rapper was not able to attend the awards gala in New York City.

In the video, Obama named and congratulated all the inductees before turning to Jay Z (given name ShawnCarter), whom he called a true American original.

I like to think Mr. Carter and I understand each other, Obama said. Nobody who met us when we were younger men would have expected us to be where we are today.

The former presidentcontinued, highlighting some of the personal difficulties both men faced and, in their own ways, overcame.

We know what its like not to have a father around, he said. We know what its like not to come from much, and to know people who didnt get the same breaks that we did. So we try to prop open the door of opportunity so that its a little easier for those who come up behind us to succeed as well.

Obama sprinkled in a bit of his signature wit as well, saying, Jay and I are also fools for our daughters, although hes going to have me beat once those two twins show up, referring to twins Jay Z and his wife Beyonc have on the way (or have already had, if you believe the Internet rumors).

Speaking of Beyonc, Obama tossed in a knowingreference to her and Michelle Obama, saying, Lets face it. We both have wives who are significantly more popular than we are.

[For artists of color, President Obama leaves a musical legacy too]

It isnt particularly surprising to see the former president speaking about the rapper. The two share a long and abiding respect for each other, perhaps even friendship.

Im pretty sure Im still the only president to listen to Jay Zs music in the Oval Office, Obama said. That may change at some point, but Im pretty sure thats true now.

As hementioned in his speech, I sampled his lyrics to close my speech at Selma.

Its true. On the 50th anniversary of Alabama state troopers attacking nonviolent, mostly blackprotesters marching from Selma to Montgomery to fight for votingrights,Obama said, We honored those who walked so we could run. We must run so our children soar.

This was a paraphrase of Jay Zs verse on the remix of Young Jeezys My President, in which Jay Z raps, Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther could walk/Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run/Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly.

Furthermore, Obama said, I tweeted a reference to My First Song as I was putting the finishing touches on my final State of the Union address.

The songs hook goes:

Its my life, its my pain and my struggle The songs that I sing to you is my everything Treat my first like my last, and my last like my first And my thirst is the same as when I came Its my joy and my tears And the laughter it brings to me, its my everything

Obama has previously mentioned the songin an interview, saying he listened to it on the campaign trail because it kinda keeps me steady. Its a great song. It reminds you that you always have to stay hungry.

Obama said he got to know the Carters during the first few years of his presidency, adding,Theyre good people. Beyonc could not be sweeter to Michelle and the girls. So theyre good friends. We talk about the same things I talk about with all my friends.

Beyonc, in fact, sang well, lip-synced the Star Spangled Banner at Obamas second inauguration.

Jay Z even once said of the former president, Ive spoken to him on the phone and had texts from Obama, of course. Hes rapped about it too, saying in On to the Next One that he has Obama on the text.

In fact, Jay Z and Beyonc visited the White House several times during the Obama administration. And, according to Obama, the rapper still serves as an inspiration.

Jay, you have been inspiring, making me want to be active in my retirement just you have been in yours, he said, before closing with a quote from Jay Z himself: I never looked at myself and said that I need to be a certain way to be around a certain sort of people. Ive always wanted to stay true to myself, and Ive managed to do that, people have to accept that.

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Obama describes his bond with Jay Z - Washington Post

MIAMI President Donald Trump on Friday ordered tighter restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba and a clampdown on U.S. business dealings with the Caribbean islands military, saying he was canceling former President Barack Obama's "terrible and misguided deal" with Havana.

Laying out his new Cuba policy in a speech in Miami, Trump signed a presidential directive rolling back parts of Obamas historic opening to the Communist-ruled country after a 2014 diplomatic breakthrough between the two former Cold War foes.

But Trump left in place many of Obamas changes, including the reopened U.S. embassy in Havana, even as he sought to show he was making good on a campaign promise to take a tougher line against Cuba, especially over its human rights record.

"We will not be silent in the face of communist oppression any longer," Trump told a cheering crowd in Miamis Cuban-American enclave of Little Havana, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who helped forge the new restrictions on Cuba.

"Effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration's completely one-sided deal with Cuba," Trump declared as he made a full-throated assault on the government of Cuban President Raul Castro.

Trumps revised approach calls for stricter enforcement of a longtime ban on Americans going to Cuba as tourists, and seeks to prevent U.S. dollars from being used to fund what the Trump administration sees as a repressive military-dominated government.

But, facing pressure from U.S. businesses and even some fellow Republicans to avoid turning back the clock completely in relations with Cuba, the president chose to leave intact some of his Democratic predecessor's steps toward normalization.

The new policy bans most U.S. business transactions with the Armed Forces Business Enterprises Group, a Cuban conglomerate involved in all sectors of the economy. But it makes some exceptions, including for air and sea travel, according to U.S. officials. This will essentially shield U.S. airlines and cruise lines serving the island.

"We do not want U.S. dollars to prop up a military monopoly that exploits and abuses the citizens of Cuba," Trump said, pledging that U.S. sanctions would not be lifted until Cuba frees political prisoners and holds free elections.

Trump based his partial reversal of Obamas Cuba measures largely on human rights grounds.

His critics, however, have questioned why his administration is now singling out Cuba for its human rights record but downplaying the issue in other parts of the world, including Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally Trump visited last month that grants few political freedoms to its citizens.

SOME OBAMA POLICIES LEFT IN PLACE

Trump, however, Trump stopped short of breaking diplomatic relations restored in 2015 after more than five decades of hostilities. He will not cut off recently resumed direct U.S.-Cuba commercial flights or cruise-ship travel, though his more restrictive policy seems certain to dampen new economic ties overall.

The administration, according to one White House official, has no intention of disrupting existing business ventures such as one struck under Obama by Starwood Hotels Inc, which is owned by Marriott International Inc, to manage a historic Havana hotel.

Nor does Trump plan to reinstate limits that Obama lifted on the amount of the islands coveted rum and cigars that Americans can bring home for personal use.

While the changes are far-reaching, they appear to be less sweeping than many U.S. pro-engagement advocates had feared.

Still, it will be the latest attempt by Trump to overturn parts of Obama's presidential legacy. He has already pulled the United States out of a major international climate treaty and is trying to scrap his predecessor's landmark healthcare program.

When Obama announced the detente in 2014, he said that decades of U.S. efforts to achieve change in Cuba by isolating the island had failed and it was time to try a new approach.

Critics of the rapprochement said Obama was giving too much away without extracting concessions from the Cuban government. Castro's government has clearly stated it does not intend to change its one-party political system.

Trump aides say Obamas efforts amounted to "appeasement" and have done nothing to advance political freedoms in Cuba, while benefiting the Cuban government financially.

"It's hard to think of a policy that makes less sense than the prior administration's terrible and misguided deal with the Castro regime," Trump said in Miami, citing the lack of human rights concessions from Cuba in the detente negotiated by Obama.

International human rights groups say, however, that renewed U.S. efforts to isolate the island could worsen the situation by empowering Cuban hard-liners. The Cuban government has made clear it will not be pressured into reforms in exchange for engagement.

The Cuban government had no immediate comment, but ordinary Cubans said they were crestfallen to be returning to an era of frostier relations with the United States with potential economic fallout for them.

"It's going to really hurt me because the majority of my clients are from the United States," said Enrique Montoto, 61, who rents rooms on U.S. online home-rental marketplace Airbnb, which expanded into Cuba in 2015.

Trump announced his new approach at the Manuel Artime Theater in Little Havana, the heart of the United States' Cuban-American and Cuban exile community, whose support aides believe helped him win Florida in the election.

The venue is named after a leader of the failed U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 against Fidel Castros revolutionary government.

I have trust in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to Cuba, Jorge Saurez, 66, a retired physician, said in Little Havana. "That's why I voted for him."

Mexico urged the governments of the United States and Cuba to find points of agreement and resolve their differences "via dialogue."

The biggest change in travel policy will be that Americans making educational people-to-people trips, one of the most popular authorized categories, can no longer go to the island on their own but only in groups. Trump's aides said the aim was to close off a path for Americans looking for beach vacations in a country where U.S. tourism is still officially banned.

Under Trumps order, the Treasury and Commerce departments will be given 30 days to begin writing new regulations, which will not take effect until they are complete.

In contentious deliberations leading up to the new policy, some aides argued that Trump, a former real estate magnate who won the presidency vowing to unleash U.S. business, would have a hard time defending any moves that close off the Cuban market.

But other advisers have contended that it is important to make good on a campaign promise to Cuban-Americans.

(Graphics package: Boom or bust for Cuban tourism click tmsnrt.rs/2rBfMTI)

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Lesley Wroughton and Patricia Zengerle in Washington, Sarah Marsh and Marc Frank in Havana, Bernie Woodall in Miami; writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Jonathan Oatis)

MOSCOW/BAGHDAD Moscow said on Friday its forces may have killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an air strike in Syria last month, but Washington said it could not corroborate the death and Western and Iraqi officials were skeptical.

BRUSSELS EU officials see the start of Brexit talks on Monday as a sign Theresa May is accepting their format for negotiations but they expect no quick deals and are wary the prime minister may try to break with Brussels protocol.

More:
Trump says 'canceling' Obama Cuba policy, restricts travel and trade - Reuters