Today in Politics, Bulletin 442. 8/17/26
… Trump took questions from the press today in the Oval Office where he was asked about Natalie Harp, conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the WH ballroom, North Korea, among other topics.
… The first question was based on a report early this morning on Fox from Trey Yingst: “I just got off the phone with Trump. The president told Fox that Iran should raise the white flag of surrender. The president said that if Oman gets in the way, ‘we’ll bomb the shit out of them’.”
Q - “You said you would ‘bomb the shit out of Oman’ if they got in the way of reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Would you say you're out of patience with Oman, a strategic partner? Trump: I don't think they behaved very well, but we'll handled them very easily just like we do other things.”
Q - “Jon Ossoff said you'd rather travel with your aide Natalie Harp and build the ballroom than do your job as president. What is your response? Trump: Who said that? You mean the Pee-Wee Herman look-alike?”
Q - What about conditions on the USS Lincoln? Trump: You’re fake news. Be quiet, be quiet, be quiet, be quiet. You are a fake reporter and you report fake news.”
… It was a female reporter, of course. He then called on another reporter who asked him the same question, so he answered it this time.
“It was a fake report. A retired Admiral came up to me over the weekend and said that he knows people on the Lincoln and they say it’s beautifully maintained and taken care of.”
… With tears in his eyes.
Q - “You said you would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz to be a territory of the US. Could you elaborate? Trump: I think it’s a great idea. We control it with a blockade. I like the idea of declaring it a territory. We have total control over the strait.”
“People who oppose the ballroom are disloyal to the country. When I was in China, we went to the Great Hall of China. It was this big, beautiful building, and we don’t have anything like that.”
… Make America China.
Q - “How do you respond to folks who say you are prioritizing the interest of our adversaries in N. Korea over our ally S. Korea? Trump: Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect. I understand him, he understands me. He didn’t like Biden or Obama or anybody but he likes me.”
“S. Korea has been protected by us for many, many years. I called the president of S. Korea recently and I said, ‘Would you like to give us a little hand?’ We don’t need help with Iran, but if you’d like, give us a hand with Iran. He said, ‘No, thanks.’ We can't go around and protect all of these countries, especially when they're not there to help us.”
… Meaghan Mobbs, Director of the Center for American Safety & Security: “N. Korea may be behaving respectfully toward Trump personally, but it is not behaving like an unthreatening state. Pyongyang is actively helping Russia wage war in Europe by providing ballistic missiles, ammunition and troops and gaining battlefield experience and potentially military technology in return. It also has a long history of missile cooperation with Iran.”
… “My concern is that personal rapport with Kim cannot become a substitute for assessing N. Korea by its behavior. Diplomacy with N. Korea is appropriate, but reducing military readiness without getting something meaningful in return is just giving away leverage. These exercises are how we maintain deterrence and our ability to fight alongside one of our most important Indo-Pacific allies.”
… “If scaling them back produces meaningful concessions from Pyongyang, that can be smart leverage. However, as our adversaries are increasingly helping one another, weakening exercises with one of our most important Indo-Pacific allies sends a very worrying message.”
… Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC): “S. Korea has been a solid military ally for over 70 years that possesses exquisite military capabilities. Reducing joint exercises with S. Korea does nothing more than free up thousands of N. Korea’s troops to support Putin’s systematic kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder of innocent Ukrainian citizens.”
… Daily Mail: “Trump is facing ridicule about his close relationship with his personal aide Natalie Harp, while Melania Trump has shrunk away from the public eye. Harp was among the handful of aides chosen to accompany the president as he secretly fled Air Force One amid an Iranian assassination threat in Turkey back in July.”
… “Sources have told the Daily Mail that Harp is Trump’s closest aide, often dubbing her his ‘connective tissue’ with some pointing out that she has more access to the president than even his chief of staff Susie Wiles. Natalie is also known as his ‘human printer’ for her habit of sharing printed copies of articles and social media posts that the president wants to read. There’s rarely an event or trip where she’s not glued closely to his side.”
… “Now Harp’s close relationship with the president is being mocked, as her stardom is back in the spotlight. Sen. Jon Ossoff ridiculed Trump during a rally in GA over his relationship with the young aide. Scrutiny over Harp's closeness to Trump comes as Melania has done about half as many events in Trump's second term compared to his first. She did not attend Lindsey Graham’s funeral, the WH Correspondents’ dinner, or the July 22 dignified transfer of four fallen US service members.”
… “Harp, meanwhile, was spotted at Trump’s side this weekend as the duo shook hands with supporters at the president’s Bedminster golf club in NJ. Harp was one of only a handful of aides Trump kept beside him last month when he slipped off Air Force One in Turkey and boarded a decoy military jet.”
… “Harp’s grip on the president was laid bare in June by NYT reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan in their book Regime Change. The authors reported that Harp left private notes for Trump in his personal spaces, one of which read: ‘You are all that matters to me.’ Swan said the letters were strange enough to draw the attention of the Secret Service, and the disclosure reportedly stunned Susie Wiles. They also quote Trump telling staff that Harp loved him as much as his wife and children did.”
… My favorite posts right now are snowflake Trump supporters, of all people, crying about Ossoff’s line about Natalie Harp. Here’s a couple:
WH Comms Director Steve Cheung: “Jon Jackoff has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics. Instead of denigrating hard working people serving their country, Jon should look deep into his soul and ask himself why he’s a miserable person who hates this country. It’s because he’s a radical, extremist Dumocrat.”
Scott Jennings: “This is quite a message for the Democratic Party to send to young women working in politics. Party of women? Pretty ugly stuff.”
… CNN: “Democrats have struggled for years to land disqualifying arguments against Trump. Their past warnings that US democracy was in peril often seemed rather esoteric to people struggling to afford gas and groceries. Jon Ossoff is providing something that the party has lacked: abrasive, robust language and framing that can be borrowed by other candidates to weave Trump’s vulnerabilities into a positive case for their own campaigns.”
… “This is one reason a senator with a strong record of winning in the conservative South and among Black voters — a critical Democratic constituency — is drawing talk of a possible 2028 run for president. First, however, he must try to win reelection.”
… Ossoff is also showing how Democrats can pin down their individual opponents by linking them to Trump’s record. He slammed his opponent, Rep. Mike Collins, whom Trump jammed onto the ballot despite the objections of state leaders: “GA deserves better — better than pro-war, pro-tariff, pro-cutting your healthcare Trump puppet Mike Collins, and America deserves better than Trump.”
… Politico: “Sen. Mark Kelly is no stranger to launches, and now the former astronaut is all but plotting one for a 2028 presidential bid. Kelly is showering the Democratic Party apparatus with money to the tune of $10 million raised or contributed, leveraging his status as an enemy of Trump and Pete Hegseth with $25 million in the bank to build a wealth of political capital.”
… “Now, he’s touching down on campaign ground today in GA alongside his wife and former Rep. Gabby Giffords for a 3-day swing to stump for Ossoff, to whom he’s already contributed over $400,000. The duo will head to the Columbus area for a meet-and-greet and discussion with voters about affordability, and a canvass kickoff with volunteers.”
… Kelly was asked if this could be a preview of an Ossoff-Kelly 2028 Democratic ticket. Kelly responded: “Hey, why’d you put it in that order?”
… There, he headlined the annual Wing Ding to a sellout crowd of 750 - the biggest attendance since 2019 - and hooped with Senate candidate Josh Turek at the State Fair, where he also flipped pork chops and ate a pork chop on a stick, a lobster roll and an apple egg roll.”
… Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) was asked on MS NOW about conditions for sailors on the Lincoln: “I think it’s important not to Monday morning quarterback on one story or another. If you look at our military, you have to recognize the damage that was caused by the previous admin. Host: Obviously the president has been in office for nearly two years. Some could argue these should be his responsibilities at this point.”
… Sen. Mark Kelly: “The president has spent a good portion of his adult life sitting on gold toilets and doesn’t know what hardship is, and doesn’t understand our service members. In fact, it’s insulting what he said - that the deployment wasn’t long enough. He doesn’t know sacrifice.”
… Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) was asked on Fox about conditions aboard the Lincoln: “These ‘reports’ are just that. I haven’t heard anything personally. I trust the Navy. I don’t make much of it, to be honest.”
… CNN pollster Harry Enten: “Hispanic men on Trump - in 2024 he won by 10 points. Look now where his net approval is - minus 41 points! That is a 51 point switcheroo against the president - these numbers are bonkers!”
The Ask the Editor podcast should be out later tonight. A bunch of really great questions this week that made it difficult to choose just 5. These were the 5 that I answered on the show:
What are the implications of Trump’s new S. Korea policy and what could be some of the reasons for his hostility?
Talk about the Republican reactions to Ossoff’s comment about Natalie Harp.
What are the implications of Trump’s crypto company getting govt approval to operate as bank and what can be done to stop it?
Who do you think will be the next WH press secretary?
What happens to the money left in Trump’s Super PAC if he doesn’t spend it on the midterms?
If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.
… The New Republic: “Left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker appears to be gearing up to sue conservative commentator Scott Jennings for defamation. Jennings went viral last week after posting a heavily edited, intentionally misleading video of what looked like Piker expressing extreme hostility towards Black voters and calling for lynchings. With the full context, it is obvious that Piker was being sarcastic.”
… Jennings on his podcast: “Black voters have been voting against the socialists, only to be ruled in many cases by privileged white commies. Did you ever notice, by the way, how violent these people are? Now El-Sayed’s best friend is out there calling for Black voters to be lynched. Beneath all the smiles and dancing videos, there’s nothing but hate and violence in the heart of these Communists.”
… As Snopes reported, Jennings lied when he claimed that Piker wanted to bringing back lynchings, as “Piker’s remarks on lynchings were sarcastic reactions to a user’s
