White House Watch: Trump vs the NFL

But a number of NFL players saw Trump’s words as an attack on their beliefs about racial injustice in the law enforcement community. Also, the president was saying anyone who protests is a “son of a bitch.” Frustrated players spoke up to coaches and owners, who issued statements all day Saturday about Trump’s comments. Owners and teams stood with their players who had been or would be protesting.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement Saturday morning. “Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities,” said Goodell.

Trump followed on his criticisms with a call for fans to boycott the NFL if more players continued to protest unpunished.

Undeterred, a large number of players—and sometimes entire rosters—on Sunday either protested the anthem or showed solidarity with those who were by locking arms with their teammates. Others, like Pittsburgh Steelers tackle (and combat veteran) Alejandro Villanueva, stood for the anthem even as their teammates did not.

Among those who issued statements was Bob Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots. “I am deeply disappointed by the tone of the comments made by the president on Friday,” said Kraft. “I am proud to be associated with so many players who make such tremendous contributions in positively impacting our communities. Their efforts, both on and off the field, help bring people together and make our community stronger. There is no greater unifier in this country than sports, and unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics. I think our political leaders could learn a lot from the lessons of teamwork and the importance of working together toward a common goal. Our players are intelligent, thoughtful and care deeply about our community and I support their right to peacefully affect social change and raise awareness in a manner that they feel is most impactful.”

Kraft also happens to be a close friend of Trump’s, one with whom the president speaks on a regular basis. The White House won’t comment on whether Trump spoke to Kraft this weekend. But the president’s Sunday evening tweet suggests he won’t be backing down from this cultural fight anytime soon.

Trump Tweet of the Day

Germany Watch—Big elections this weekend in Germany gave the far-right nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party the biggest electoral haul for a party of its kind in more than 50 years, coming in third behind the CDU-CSU alliance of Angela Merkel and entering the Bundestag for the first time.

Dominic Green analyzed the election results for THE WEEKLY STANDARD. Here’s an excerpt:

As Green notes, there are still big questions about whether Merkel will enter into a coalition with AfD or instead with minor parties like the Free Democrats and the Greens, who had strong showings.

President Trump issued a proclamation Sunday evening placing restrictions on travelers from countries that do not meet new baseline information-sharing standards. The new standards replace Trump’s ban on travel from six Muslim-majority countries, which expired Sunday.

“These restrictions are necessary and conditions-based, not time-based,” an administration official told reporters Sunday.

Beginning October 18, the federal government will restrict travel from countries that fail to provide the United States with a bare minimum of information on citizens entering America. Countries will be required to issue legitimate passports, report lost or stolen passports to the International Police Organization, and provide information about known or suspected terrorists and criminals to the U.S. government. States that contain known terrorist cells are also subject to additional scrutiny.

Under the March ban, travel was restricted from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Under the new rules, restrictions on travel from Sudan have been lifted, as officials said their government meets the new baseline standards. Meanwhile, new restrictions have been placed on Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela.

Unlike the previous ban, the new proclamation gives the government authority to reduce or strengthen restrictions as countries become more or less compliant with U.S. information requirements, and restrictions are assigned on a country-by-country basis. In some countries, such as Syria, travel will be suspended entirely; in others, only permanent immigrant visas will be blocked.

American officials stressed Sunday that currently-issued visas will be honored, and that the new baseline standards would only apply to issuing further travel passes after October 18.

“The goal is not to indefinitely block people from coming to our country; the goal is to protect Americans until foreign governments comply with our standards,” a senior official said. “The bottom line is that we are no longer allowing information-sharing deficiencies overseas to threaten our safety here at home.”

The new restrictions will also contain room for issuing exceptions and waivers, with officials specifically mentioning the test the Supreme Court placed on President Trump’s earlier executive order. Under that test, travelers from banned countries with a “bona fide connection” to U.S. citizens could be granted travel, although they can be subject to additional scrutiny. At the same time, however, officials cautioned that these waivers would be narrower than the Supreme Court’s test.

Irony Alert—From Politico: “Presidential son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has corresponded with other administration officials about White House matters through a private email account set up during the transition last December, part of a larger pattern of Trump administration aides using personal email accounts for government business.”

Health Care Watch—With Ted Cruz and Susan Collins signaling they are likely to vote “no” on the Graham-Cassidy health-care bill, the GOP’s final attempt to repeal Obamacare this year looks nearly dead. But White House director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short insisted Sunday that the bill still has a chance.

“It’s not dead,” Short said on Fox News Sunday. “Rand Paul has been certainly someone who’s very principled on health care. You know, we hope we can earn his support, because when else would he get the opportunity to vote on a bill that actually provides real entitlement reform?”

Short also objected to much of the negative coverage surrounding Graham-Cassidy, arguing that the bill does not actually gut protections for people with preexisting conditions.

“The Obamacare legislation required coverage of pre-existing conditions,” Short said. “This legislation does not change that. So pre-existing conditions continue to be covered.”

It’s not that simple, however: Graham-Cassidy would allow states to request a waiver of the requirements forbidding insurers from hiking premiums based on health status, which Fox News’s Chris Wallace called “a loophole big enough to drive a tank through.”

One of my favorite podcasts is Conversations with Bill Kristol, and one of my favorite Conversations guests is University of Virginia literature professor Paul Cantor. Professor Cantor takes pop culture seriously, and he’s as big a fan of the Simpsons as he is of Shakespeare.

Speaking of the Bard, the latest episode of Conversations features Cantor talking about Shakespeare, which pretty much sells itself. Listen here.

Song of the Day—“Monday” by Wilco.