President Trump came home from his Asia trip with a significant political conundrum on his hands: What to do about Roy Moore. For days, the White House has been publicly cautious in rendering any judgment on the credible sexual misconduct allegations against Moore, even as Republican senators and party organizations have backed away from the judge’s campaign. (The latest to withdrawal is the Trump-aligned Republican National Committee, which quietly pulled out of its fundraising pact with Moore.)
Privately, the White House has been in a holding pattern until Trump’s return. After an initial statement saying that the “very disturbing” allegations would disqualify Moore from office, Mike Pence has been silent—a spokeswoman for the vice president has not responded to requests for further comment. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly spoken with Trump and Pence about Moore, and has endorsed the idea of promoting a write-in Republican candidate for the December 12 special election. McConnell raised the option with Pence in a call Monday.
Moore himself has remained defiant even with (or perhaps due to) the pile-on from national Republicans. The president remains the X-factor, with enough pull in Trump-loving Alabama to give the nod to a write-in alternative—or to undercut the other GOP efforts to distance the party from Moore. The White House’s reticence reflects how unsure those around Trump are of how he will ultimately act.
Trump Tweet of the Day—This is a cryptic one from the Philippines before departing Tuesday:
I will be making a major statement from the @WhiteHouse upon my return to D.C. Time and date to be set.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 14, 2017
That could be a signal he will say something about Moore—or about trade, which Trump has already said he would make speak on when he returned to Washington.
On the Administration’s Schedule—The fifth round of talks about renegotiating the North America Free Trade Agreement with neighbors Mexico and Canada begins on Wednesday.
Donald Trump rarely gives pollsters much credit, particularly when they show him underwater But the president made an exception during his flight back to Washington early Tuesday morning, tweeting a daily Rasmussen poll that put his approval rating at 46 percent.
One of the most accurate polls last time around. But #FakeNews likes to say we’re in the 30’s. They are wrong. Some people think numbers could be in the 50’s. Together, WE will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/YhrwkdObhP
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 14, 2017
Trump added one of his patented “some people are saying” remarks, speculating that his true approval rating could be above 50 percent.
But the truth is Rasmussen remains a favorable outlier for Trump. According to a new Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday, only four in 10 registered voters believe Trump is fit for office. In the RealClear Politics average of polls, Trump’s approval rating sits at 38 percent, roughly the same place it has been since July.
Russia Watch—THE WEEKLY STANDARD editors ask a good question: Does Trump really believe Vladimir Putin’s assurances that he and the Russian government did not interfere in last year’s presidential election? Here’s an excerpt from their editorial:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified at a House oversight hearing on Tuesday, where lawmakers grilled him about his shifting story regarding the Russia investigation last year and the potential appointment of a special counsel to investigate the Clinton Foundation.
But a brief exchange between Sessions and Republican congressman Steve King of Iowa highlighted another pressing matter Congress can’t afford to ignore: the looming March 5 deadline to pass a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which the White House ended in September.
President Trump has repeatedly called on Congress to pass legislation reauthorizing the program, which provided legal status to individuals who were brought to America illegally as children. But King, an immigration restrictionist, said it’s not likely Congress will be reach a compromise on the issue. He asked Sessions what the Justice Department’s position would be if Trump tried to take action to reinstate the program unilaterally.
“That’s hypothetical; I don’t think I should speculate on that,” Sessions replied. “But I do think Congress will have to give it thought. We have a law now, it’s in place, that Congress has passed, and Congress would have to change it. It is correct in my view, and I think you probably share it, that something is lost whenever you provide an amnesty. There’s a price will be paid if that’s done, but sometimes circumstances are such that it may need to be done. But we need to be careful.”
Mark It Down—“We’re planning on keeping that separate from spending.” —Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, on whether the end-of-year funding bill would include a DACA fix, November 14, 2017.
Song of the Day—“Everything I Do” by Whiskeytown
