KEEPING TRACK … 23 LEGISLATIVE DAYS left in 2019.
SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI’S delegation stopped in Afghanistan, where they met with President Ashraf Ghani and had a temporary meeting with Protection Secretary Mark Esper.
STOPPING “ENDLESS WARS” UPDATE … NYT’S ERIC SCHMITT and MAGGIE HABERMAN: “Trump Stated to Favor Leaving a Few Hundred Troops in Japanese Syria”: “President Trump is leaning in favor of a new Pentagon plan to keep a small contingent of American troops in japanese Syria, perhaps numbering about 200, to fight the Islamic State and block the advance of Syrian government and Russian forces into the area’s coveted oil fields, a senior administration official stated on Sunday.
“If Mr. Trump approves the proposal to go away a few hundred Particular Operations forces in japanese Syria, it will mark the second time in 10 months that he has reversed his order to pull out almost all American troops from the nation. Final December, Mr. Trump directed 2,000 American troops to go away Syria immediately, solely to relent later and approve a extra gradual withdrawal.” NYT
MORE FROM WSJ’S MICHAEL GORDON and GORDON LUBOLD: “The thought was introduced to Mr. Trump last week by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who has vigorously opposed the president’s initial determination to take away all the 1,000 troops the U.S. has in northeast Syria.
“Army officials stated the Pentagon helps a plan to go away as many as 300 special operations forces to hold out that mission. The thought also has help in the State Department, in response to individuals accustomed to the difficulty. … The plan, analysts say, may additionally give Mr. Trump a solution to blunt criticism from members of each events in Congress that he is abandoning the Kurds and handing the country over the Assad regime and the Russians.” WSJ
MILESTONE: “U.S. troops cross into Iraq from Syria,” by Reuters’ Kawa Omar in Dohuk, Iraq … Video of U.S. troops departing Syria
-- AP FACT CHECK: “Trump says troops coming home; they’re not”
FYI … NYT’S DAVID SANGER and WILLIAM BROAD: “Erdogan’s Ambitions Go Past Syria. He Says He Needs Nuclear Weapons”: “Within the weeks leading up to his order to launch the army throughout the border to clear Kurdish areas, Mr. Erdogan made no secret of his larger ambition. ‘Some nations have missiles with nuclear warheads,’ he advised a meeting of his governing celebration in September. However the West insists ‘we will’t have them,” he stated. ‘This, I can't settle for.’” NYT
ANOTHER BIG WEEK FOR IMPEACHMENT … THIS WEEK will kick off with an enormous one: Bill Taylor, the ambassador to Ukraine, will testify Tuesday. Taylor’s now-public textual content messages expressed concern a few quid professional quo in Kyiv.
… Wednesday: Philip Reeker, the appearing assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs. Michael Duffey, OMB affiliate director for national security. Thursday: Alexander Vindman, the Nationwide Security Council’s director for European affairs, and Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of Defense. Friday: Suriya Jayanti, a Overseas Service officer in Kyiv (read about her here), and Tim Morrison, the NSC’s senior director for Russia and Europe. (hat ideas: Kyle Cheney and Andrew Desiderio)
TOP TALKER … THE ATLANTIC’S MCKAY COPPINS: “The Liberation of Mitt Romney”: “Within the 9 years I’ve been overlaying Romney, I’ve by no means seen him quite so liberated. Unconstrained by consultants, unconcerned about reelection, he's eager about things similar to legacy, and inheritance, and the grand sweep of historical past. Right here, in the twilight of his profession, he appears to sense—in a means that eludes lots of his colleagues—that he’ll be remembered for what he does on this flamable moment. ‘I do assume individuals will view this as an inflection point in American historical past,’ Romney tells me.
“‘I don’t take a look at myself as being a historical determine,’ he hastens so as to add, ‘but I do assume these are important occasions. And I hope that what I’m doing will open the best way for individuals to take a special path.’” The Atlantic
SHOT … SLATE’S @ashleyfeinberg at 6:44 p.m.: “i *consider* i'll have discovered mitt romney's secret twitter account.” Slate
… CHASER: @mckaycoppins at 9:33 p.m.: “Simply spoke to @MittRomney on the telephone, and requested him about Pierre Delecto. His solely response: ‘C’est moi.’” The account, @qaws9876, is now locked.
Good Monday morning. THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS enter the World Collection as the most important underdogs in additional than a decade. Recreation 1 is Tuesday night time in Houston towards the Astros at eight:08 p.m.
NEW … BARACK OBAMA is headlining a fundraiser for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee in New York tonight. The occasion will probably be at Alex Soros’ residence, and Eric Holder and Terry McAuliffe are also anticipated to attend. The invite
WSJ’S MIKE BENDER and VIVIAN SALAMA: “White House Strikes Testing Republican Help for Trump”: “‘What is Mulvaney even talking about?’ Sean Hannity, a Fox Information host and confidant of the president’s, stated on his radio show Thursday afternoon, referring to what he referred to as the appearing chief of employees’s ‘idiotic interpretation of things.’
“‘I simply assume he’s dumb, I really do. I don’t even assume he is aware of what he’s speaking about,’ Mr. Hannity stated. Mr. Hannity later made a conciliatory telephone call to Mr. Mulvaney, White House officers stated. Mr. Hannity didn’t reply to a request for remark.” WSJ
-- INTERESTING DETAIL, by way of NYT’s Maggie Haberman, Eric Lipton and Katie Rogers: “The president first heard the criticism of his selection of the Doral watching TV, the place even some Fox News personalities have been disapproving. By Saturday afternoon, his considerations had deepened when he put in a call to Camp David, the place Mr. Mulvaney was hosting average congressional Republicans for a discussion of issues dealing with them, together with impeachment, and was advised the consensus was he ought to reverse himself. Those moderates are among the many votes Mr. Trump would wish to stick with him throughout an impeachment.
“‘I didn’t see it being an enormous adverse, nevertheless it definitely wasn’t a constructive,’ stated Representative Peter T. King of New York, a type of at Camp David. He stated the group informed Mr. Trump’s aides that sticking with the decision ‘would be a distraction.’” NYT
NEW BOOK ALERT … ELAINA PLOTT, who covers the White House for The Atlantic, has inked a brand new guide deal. “Within the Lifeless Hearth’s Ashes” will probably be concerning the “historic and consequential wrestle between Alabama governor and segregationist George Wallace and Frank Johnson, the federal decide who struck him down virtually every step of his profession, from their unlikely friendship in regulation faculty to their defining clash, years later, over Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s march from Selma.” Ann Godoff at Penguin will edit the e-book. Matt Latimer and Keith Urbahn at Javelin represented Plott.
DAILY RUDY -- “Justice Department Distances Itself From Giuliani,” by NYT’s Katie Benner: “The Justice Department distanced itself on Sunday from Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s private lawyer, declaring that department officers would not have met with Mr. Giuliani to discuss certainly one of his shoppers had they recognized that federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating two of his associates.”
-- NOTE: This seems to be the DOJ officially confirming for the primary time that prosecutors at the Southern District of New York are investigating Giuliani. The NYT reported earlier that Giuliani had met with Brian Benczkowski, the top of DOJ’s legal division, to discuss a shopper dealing with bribery fees.
KNOWING DONALD TRUMP JR. -- AP’S JONATHAN LEMIRE in San Antonio: “Donald Trump Jr.: A potent voice for father’s marketing campaign”: “The shout of ‘2024!’ from the gang was unmistakable. It stopped Donald Trump Jr. chilly. President Donald Trump’s eldest son had been within the midst of a humor-laced screed during which he decried Joe Biden as too previous and Elizabeth Warren as too liberal and insisted his father’s 2016 campaign was too disorganized to probably collude with the Russians.
“As many within the crowd of a number of hundred laughed, Trump Jr. held a dramatic pause earlier than exclaiming his response: ‘Let’s fear about 2020 first!’ he yelled.
“The son has turn into the prime warmup act for the daddy at political rallies, typically showing more than an hour earlier than the president speaks, one other bombastic provocateur who revels within the tribal loyalty of the supporters who pack Trump rallies. It is a call to arms to a fawning crowd and Donald Jr. has turn into a grasp preacher.” AP
2020 WATCH …
-- NEW ... BUTTIGIEG IS BACK ... “Poll: Iowa caucuses are ‘up for grabs’ as Pete Buttigieg surges into prime tier,” by USA At present's Susan Web page: “It's a new three-way race in Iowa.
“Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was initially seen as a long-shot presidential contender, has surged inside hanging distance of former vice chairman Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, a Suffolk College/USA TODAY Ballot finds.
“Biden, lengthy seen as the Democratic frontrunner, is faltering in the wake of a debate efficiency final week that these surveyed saw as disappointing. The ballot, taken Wednesday via Friday, put Biden at 18%, Warren at 17% and Buttigieg at 13% amongst 500 probably Democratic caucusgoers.” USA Today
-- “Warren says she’ll launch ‘plan’ to pay for Medicare for All,” by Alex Thompson: “Days after 2020 rivals accused her of not being candid on how she would pay for Medicare-for-All, Sen. Elizabeth Warren informed a crowd at a city corridor that she can be rolling out a plan ‘over the subsequent few weeks’ detailing how she would pay for the plan.
“‘Proper now the price estimates for Medicare for All range by trillions and trillions of dollars and the totally different revenue stream for methods to fund it, there are a variety of,’ the Massachusetts Democrat informed a crowd in Indianola, Iowa, on Sunday at a city corridor. ‘This is one thing I’ve been engaged on for months and months, and it’s received just a little extra work until it’s completed.’
“It's just the newest in a collection of moves Warren has made to clarify her place on health care through the presidential marketing campaign. Whereas she co-sponsored Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare-for-All invoice in 2017, Warren was more equivocal on her health care priorities within the opening months of the race until June, when she started saying: ‘I’m with Bernie on Medicare for All.’” POLITICO
-- “Trump’s money machine triggers Democratic alarms,” by David Siders, Maggie Severns and Natasha Korecki
TRUMP’S MONDAY -- The president will maintain a Cupboard assembly at 11:30 a.m. in the Cabinet Room. He could have lunch with VP Mike Pence in the personal eating room at 12:45 p.m.
JUICY BOOK EXCERPT -- “Inside Trump’s First Pentagon Briefing,” by Guy Snodgrass, former speechwriter for former Defense Secretary James Mattis: “Lengthy earlier than actual planning for it began, and lengthy before the primary news tales about it, those of us within the prime levels of the Pentagon heard President Donald Trump demand the army parade he would ultimately get.
“The weird request was one of many first indicators I had of the big rift between my boss on the time, Protection Secretary James Mattis, and the president.
“The clash got here in the midst of Trump’s first Pentagon briefing on America’s army and diplomatic ‘laydown’—a term of art used to explain all the places around the globe with U.S. forces and embassies—on July 20, 2017. Mattis, for whom I was working as chief speechwriter, had hoped the briefing would educate Trump on america’ longstanding commitment to the remainder of the world. That isn't at all what occurred.
“As an alternative, the president burst out in the midst of the meeting. ‘I just returned from France,’ he stated. ‘Did you see President Macron’s handshake?’ he requested no one in specific. ‘He wouldn’t let go. He just stored holding on. I spent two hours at Bastille Day. Very impressive.’ A pause.
“‘I need a “Victory Day.” Identical to Veterans Day. The Fourth of July is just too scorching,’ he stated, apparently out of nowhere. ‘I would like automobiles and tanks on Important Road. On Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Capitol to the White House. We'd like spirit! We should always blow everyone away with this parade. The French had a tremendous parade on Bastille Day with tanks and the whole lot. Why can’t we do this?’” POLITICO Magazine … $24.30 on Amazon
THE INVESTIGATIONS -- “Justice Dept. confirms Trump Jr. and McGahn did not testify to Mueller grand jury,” by Josh Gerstein and Darren Samuelsohn: “The Justice Department confirmed Sunday that President Donald Trump’s son Donald Jr. and former White House counsel Don McGahn have been by no means referred to as earlier than a grand jury that heard witnesses referred to as by particular counsel Robert Mueller.
“The disclosure was set in movement by Chief Decide Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Courtroom in Washington, D.C., who dominated final week that Justice Department attorneys had deleted too much info from a courtroom submitting last month in an ongoing authorized dispute over Lawyer Basic William Barr’s refusal to share with Home lawmakers grand jury-related info in Mueller’s ultimate report.” POLITICO … The opinion
NYT’S BEN HUBBARD in Qamishli, Syria: “As U.S. Leaves Allies in Syria, Kurdish Commander Struggles With Fallout”: “Away from the front strains where the Turks may assassinate him, the Kurdish chief of the Syrian drive that when helped America battle the Islamic State, and that has now been deserted by the Trump administration, appeared drained from 10 days of battle and geopolitical wrestle over his individuals’s fate.
“The commander, Mazlum Kobani, had visibly lost weight, and his eyes drooped from exhaustion. His fighters had shed considerable blood to wrest territory from the Islamic State and establish self-rule on its former lands. Now, he nervous that a full American withdrawal wouldn't solely jeopardize these features but in addition topic his individuals to displacement and slaughter.
“‘There might be ethnic cleaning of the Kurdish individuals from Syria, and the American administration can be accountable for it,’ stated Mr. Kobani, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces.” NYT
BREXIT LATEST -- “EU27 ponder how you can cope with U.Okay. request for Brexit delay,” by POLITICO Europe’s David Herszenhorn in Brussels: “EU27 leaders are contemplating Boris Johnson's Brexit delay request and tips on how to flip it to their very own maximum advantage — although some are wondering if there’s any benefit left to achieve.
“After the British parliament withheld approval on the new Brexit deal clinched Thursday with the EU, forcing the prime minister to ask for a short extension, Johnson on Saturday night time complied and sent Brussels a request to delay the October 31 deadline until January 31, 2020. ...
“EU ambassadors met briefly in Brussels Sunday morning for a session to take inventory of the brand new circumstances following Saturday’s developments in Westminster. Whereas ambassadors took observe of the extension request, and agreed that Tusk ought to proceed with consultations, they didn't interact in any substantive dialogue on the U.Okay.’s request or the potential length of a delay, one diplomat stated. They left with the expectation of meeting again later this week.” POLITICO Europe
BEYOND THE BELTWAY -- Former Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and a number of Hollywood stars are putting on an unique play, “You Can’t Make This Sh#t Up,” to boost money for her PAC, For a Change. The producers are billing it as “a take a look at the chaos of the Trump administration by way of the Mueller report,” and it stars Debra Messing as Trump, Larry David as The Narrator, Broadway star Billy Porter and others. (h/t Carla Marinucci)
MEDIAWATCH -- Former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) has joined CNN as a contributor, per an announcement by host Jake Tapper.
-- TV TONIGHT: NBC will air a Lester Holt interview with Fb’s Mark Zuckerberg ahead of Wednesday’s congressional testimony. … Fox Information’ Sean Hannity could have an interview with the president.
Ship tricks to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.
SPOTTED: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) at Boston Logan Airport on Sunday. … Mick Mulvaney purchasing very briskly at Big on seventh Road NW on Sunday.
TRANSITION -- Ian Christopher McCaleb is now a managing director at Mercury Public Affairs. He previously labored at Hogan Lovells and is a Levick, DOJ, Fox News and CNN alum.
ENGAGED -- REP. ABBY FINKENAUER (@Abby4Iowa): “I stated YES to perpetually with Daniel, my greatest good friend and my rock. We're so grateful for all of the love & help of our families and pals as we take this subsequent step building our life collectively.” Tweet with pics
WEEKEND WEDDING -- Sarah Dolan, government director of America Rising PAC, and Dan Schneider, common supervisor of convention providers at FLIK Hospitality, acquired married Saturday at Immaculate Conception Church in Annandale, N.J. The reception was at Born to Run Farm in Glen Gardner, N.J. Pic … Another pic
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Megan Smith, CEO of shift7 and former U.S. chief know-how officer. A fun reality about her: “Congrats to the groups who yesterday finished the 2019 World Solar Challenge -- a solar automotive race 2,00Zero miles across the continent of Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. In 1987, I used to be a part of a gaggle of MIT students who constructed and raced a solar automotive in the first World Solar Problem in Australia. From that have, I do know we will together dramatically accelerate our shift to green power and lead on this pressing economic-social-environmental transition.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is 7-0 … Hope Hicks … Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) is 48 … NYT’s Mikayla Bouchard is Three-Zero … Cate Martel, national political reporter at The Hill … Axios’ Kim Hart … Lindsay Curren … Max Goetschel … former Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) (h/t Fred Graefe) … former Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) … POLITICO’s Ben Lefebvre, Hannah Edwards and Rachel Jongerius … Alyssa Fields … CTV’s Will Dugan … Edith Gregson (h/ts Tim and Kiki Burger) … FEMA chief of employees Eric Heighberger (h/t Ed Cash) … Dafna Linzer, managing editor of NBC News Politics (h/t Richard Hudock) … Christopher Boutlier (h/t Steve Elmendorf) …
… NYT’s Taylor Lorenz … Tina Andreadis … Brian Doory … Dan Simon … Charlie Joughin, comms director for the First 5 Years Fund (h/t Olivia Alair Dalton) ... Mark Glaze … Jon Rawlson ... Steve Odland, CEO of the Committee for Economic Improvement ... Jason Czerwiec ... Edelman’s Alex Abrahamson … Wilson Baldwin ... Charlotte Stewart … Gyan Parida … Lauren Waldron … Sam Hiersteiner … Clare Pritchett Lorimer ... Linda Nguyen … Mike Fazzino ... Jamie Novogrod ... Jonathan Poe … Lorraine Kuchmy ... Mandy Fletcher Fraher ... Courtney Lukitsch, principal at Gotham PR ... Anna Schecter Zigler … Stavros Drakoularakos (h/t Jon Haber)
Article initially revealed on POLITICO Magazine
Src: POLITICO Playbook: NOT COMING HOME: Trump considers leaving troops in Syria
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