Welcome to the web model of From the Politics Desk, a night e-newsletter that brings you the NBC Information Politics staff’s newest reporting and evaluation from the White Home, Capitol Hill and the marketing campaign path.
In at present’s version, Elon Musk and Donald Trump bid farewell from the Oval Workplace on dwell TV. In the meantime, Kristen Welker digs into Trump’s newest social media salvos at Vladimir Putin and what they may imply for the Russia-Ukraine battle. And senior Supreme Court docket reporter Lawrence Hurley solutions a reader query a few notable provision tucked into the Home price range invoice that handed just lately.
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— Scott Bland
Elon Musk’s missed alternative
By Jonathan Allen
Elon Musk stood subsequent to President Donald Trump within the Oval Workplace on Friday, however the bodily proximity belied a rising philosophical divide between two of the world’s strongest males, ensuing within the tech mogul’s abrupt announcement that he’s departing Washington — with out having achieved his aim of decimating the federal authorities.
“He got here, he noticed, he folded,” Steve Bannon, a senior White Home adviser throughout Trump’s first time period who’s influential with the working-class wing of Trump’s MAGA base, mentioned in a textual content alternate with NBC Information.
Musk, who stood together with his arms folded throughout his chest as he and Trump took questions, sported a bruise close to his proper eye — an unmistakable metaphor for his tumultuous authorities service — that he mentioned was incurred whereas enjoying together with his 5-year-old son X.
Trump took a extra charitable view of Musk’s tenure throughout a sprawling information convention by which he additionally declined to rule out pardoning Sean “Diddy” Combs, who’s standing trial on costs of intercourse trafficking and different alleged crimes; mentioned he dislikes “the idea” of former first girl Jill Biden being pressured to testify earlier than Congress about her husband’s psychological health; and predicted once more that Iran is on the cusp of creating a deal that will droop its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“He needed to undergo the slings and the arrows, which is a disgrace as a result of he’s an unbelievable patriot,” Trump mentioned of Musk.
Trump and Musk each contended that DOGE will proceed to wring out financial savings by rooting out waste and fraud with out Musk as its face.
“This isn’t the top of DOGE, however actually the start,” Musk mentioned, vowing to succeed in the trillion-dollar mark in cuts by the center of subsequent yr. On the identical time he spoke of chopping authorities spending, Musk lauded Trump’s reworking of the Oval Workplace.
“I really like the gold on the ceiling,” he mentioned.
Musk has argued that inertia throttled his efforts to scale back authorities spending — a conclusion that raises questions on whether or not he was naive in regards to the problem of the mission he undertook.
“The federal paperwork state of affairs is far worse than I spotted,” he advised The Washington Post this week. “I assumed there have been issues, nevertheless it certain is an uphill battle attempting to enhance issues in D.C., to say the least.”
The following steps as Trump vents fury at Putin
By Kristen Welker
President Donald Trump has ramped up the rhetoric attacking Russian President Vladimir Putin, however thus far there’s no enamel behind it.
After months of chopping Putin slack on the world stage and clashing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump has undergone a stark rhetorical shift in latest days.
He’s taken to social media to blast Putin for having gone “absolutely crazy” and for “needlessly killing lots of people” together with Ukrainian residents “for no cause in any respect.” He has warned that “what Vladimir Putin doesn’t notice is that if it weren’t for me, a lot of actually unhealthy issues would have already occurred to Russia, and I imply REALLY BAD. He’s enjoying with fireplace!”
Trump seems to now be warming to the idea many Western leaders have held for years — that Putin isn’t significantly pushing for peace, outdoors of whole Russian victory. In latest weeks, we’ve seen a few of the largest bombardments of all the battle, together with a massive drone attack in Kyiv that got here within the shadow of a prisoner alternate between Russia and Ukraine.
None of this implies Trump is buddy-buddy with Zelenskyy now, and he criticized the Ukrainian as “cussed” throughout Friday remarks within the Oval Workplace, at the same time as he underscored his disappointment with Putin.
In the meantime, the difficulty of sanctioning Russia and sending help to Ukraine clearly splits the GOP, and it doesn’t essentially sit properly with the “America First” wing of the GOP that Trump instructions. But when Trump needs to behave, as former Vice President Mike Pence advised me he beneficial throughout our conversation earlier this month, he has arrows in his quiver.
Earlier this week on “Meet the Press Now,” former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul advised us that the one technique to persuade Putin to come back to the negotiating desk is to persuade him he can’t advance on the battlefield. Whereas one may assume the West is tapped out on the subject of sanctions, McFaul mentioned there’s much more on the desk, together with seizing extra property or banning Russia’s “shadow fleet” that ships oil from docking at Western ports.
And only a few days in the past, Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, an elder statesman within the Senate, referred to as on Trump to be as “decisive” in new sanctions in opposition to Russia as he’s been in his push in opposition to Harvard College.
So if Putin has run out of leash with Trump, then what’s the president ready for?
Be part of us Sunday after we speak about this and a flurry of different necessary home and worldwide points with Home Speaker Mike Johnson and Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
✉️ Mailbag: Congress and the courts
Due to everybody who emailed us! This week’s reader query is on an under-the-radar provision in Republicans’ “huge, lovely invoice.”
“I heard that the invoice accommodates language that takes away a choose’s authority to carry somebody in contempt after they don’t adjust to the court docket’s orders. Is that true? I’ve seen lots in regards to the monetary implications however nothing on this.”
To reply this, we turned to senior Supreme Court docket reporter Lawrence Hurley. Right here’s his response:
The Home invoice does certainly include a provision that will restrict the power of federal judges to carry folks in contempt for violating court docket orders. (Read it here.)
The Republican-backed measure comes amid considerable pushback on the right in opposition to quite a few judges who haven’t solely blocked Trump administration insurance policies however have additionally questioned whether or not the administration is complying with rulings and no less than thought-about contempt proceedings.
The supply in query would search to restrict the power of judges to pursue contempt findings by withholding federal funds that may very well be used to implement such a ruling until the plaintiff posted a bond when in search of a short lived restraining order or a preliminary injunction.
However there isn’t a assure the Senate will embrace the language in its model of the invoice, partly as a result of it might fall foul of guidelines meant to make sure price range invoice provisions have a direct hyperlink to federal revenues.
🗞️ Right this moment’s different high tales
- 👩⚖️ A short lived win on short-term standing: The Supreme Court docket mentioned it might proceed to let the administration revoke the short-term authorized standing of greater than 500,000 immigrants from 4 international locations as litigation continues. Read more →
- 🦷 Talking of getting enamel: A brand new examine warns {that a} 50-state ban on fluoride in water might result in 1 in each 3 kids in America creating cavities within the subsequent 5 years. Read more →
- 📉 A curler coaster: Trump’s tweet accusing China of flouting a deal on tariffs despatched shares sliding amid the uncertainty associated to the commerce battle between the 2 international locations. Read more →
- ☔ The destiny of FEMA: Whereas the Division of Homeland Safety is publicly saying it should eliminate FEMA, it’s quietly shifting to maintain some key items in place forward of hurricane season. Read more →
- 🚙 Getting out of dodge: A rising variety of lawmakers need to ditch Washington for the governor’s mansions, leaving a job and not using a time period restrict for an opportunity to maneuver again house. Read more →
- ➡️ Inflation charge: Inflation didn’t change a lot in April, in response to new information launched by the Commerce Division. Read more →
- 📱 Poke: The Trump administration needs extra social media vetting of Harvard’s visa candidates. Read more →
- ◼️ Bernie Kerik has died: The previous New York Metropolis police commissioner who later spent three years in jail on tax and false assertion costs earlier than being pardoned has died on the age of 69. Read more →
That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Right this moment’s e-newsletter was compiled by Scott Bland and Ben Kamisar.
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