From Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a report on the travels of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Erik Loomis on how trade deals and immigration laws hurt workers — Mexican workers. Package bombs are killing people in Texas but Donald Trump hasn’t said a thing — there’s a reason for that. Trump just explained why he is a congenital liar. The Trump administration is showing the world “how not to mobilize against China”. Marcy Wheeler on how congressional oversight of the intelligence community is broken. Larry Kudlow solves what Trump believes is his real problem.
Donald Trump is the new George W. Bush: The rehabilitation of the worst Bush-era offenders underscores that Trump represents a continuity — not a break — with the past. Mike Pompeo, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, has a problem with Islam. Emails reveal conservative alarm over “Obama holdovers” in Trump administration. Trump is “emotionally unsuited to deal with the presidency”: Sean Illing interviews Robert Dallek, author of Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life. Can Mueller force Trump to testify? He can, but it’s complicated. Rebekah Entralgo on the extravagant spending of Trump’s champagne cabinet.
Peter Beinart on the rise of right-wing foreign policy in America. Worse than a liar: Trump’s story about inventing facts in a conversation with Canada’s Justin Trudeau reveals the depth of his pathology. Dean Baker writes in defense of Larry Kudlow (sort of). Trump Cabinet members accused of living large at taxpayer expense. Dismantle the Department of Homeland Security: The case for abolishing the wasteful, incompetent, and abusive mega-agency has become especially urgent under Trump. Russian hackers attacking U.S. power grid and aviation, FBI warns.
Mike Pompeo hasn’t merely consorted with anti-Muslim bigots — he has echoed their arguments. “You're looking handsome, Larry”: How the reality TV president found the perfect idiot to be his chief economic adviser. Presidential ratings are flawed — which makes it hard to assess Trump.
