The Note: Trump changing course

— -- TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS with ABC’s RICK KLEIN and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

Day No. 84

THE BIG STORY: “One by one we are keeping our promises,” President Trump tweeted Wednesday night, after a day that saw him flip on a staggering array of previous commitments and comments. In the course of a few hours, he reversed himself on labeling China a currency manipulator; maintaining the Export-Import Bank; keeping Janet Yellen at the Fed; his previous view that NATO is obsolete; and even (and again) whether he knows Vladimir Putin. That doesn’t count the most consequential flip-flop of the week – in which he switched from cozying up to Russia and opposing military retaliation in Syria to just the opposite. It’s tempting to catalog the contradictions as another example of why it’s only worth paying attention to what the president does, as opposed to what he says. But there’s an important method to be divined behind what looks like a policy maturation for the president. On both foreign and economic policy, the president is moving toward the middle – toward what serves as a broad, bipartisan (some in particular would say “globalist,” as opposed to “nationalist”) agenda. It would appear that it’s not (or not just) Steve Bannon’s personality that has worn thin for Trump. “Presidents, they get facts like the rest of us, and they should use them,” Larry Kudlow told The Washington Post.

THE SLEEPER STORY: That must have been one heck of a piece of chocolate cake. Just like that, a core campaign promise – to label China a currency manipulator – something that was mentioned virtually daily by candidate Trump and codified in his “contract with the American voter,” is gone. As for the pressure Trump promised to apply to China over North Korea, the president admitted bluntly that he got a lesson on the topic from Chinese President Xi Jinping. “After listening for 10 minutes, I realized it’s not so easy,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Trump is celebrating the fact that the Chinese turned back a North Korean coal shipment, squeezing an economic lifeline for that country. No deal on how to stop North Korea’s nuclear program is in sight, but this sure looks like quid pro quos – or, at least, actions that establish the trust necessary for a deal to come into focus. It’s a stunning evolution that leaves the president closer to China and tougher on Russia after signaling the exact opposite for two years – enough for the president and the secretary of state to declare an “all-time low” for the US relationship with Russia. This is a new level of on-the-job training, but it’s also pretty much Trump being Trump.

THE SHINY STORY: President Trump made a startling suggestion in his interview with the Journal: He dangled the possibility of withholding federal subsidies that are propping up Obamacare – in an apparent (and actually pretty explicit) effort to force Democrats to the negotiating table. “I don’t want people to get hurt,” the president said. “What I think should happen — and will happen — is the Democrats will start calling me and negotiating.” To be clear, this is tanking Obamacare in the hopes of rewriting it; call it destroy and replace. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it out for what it is, quickly declaring that “this cynical strategy will fail.” In fact, this strategy is unlikely to go anywhere – and not just because HHS and Republicans in Congress don’t want to see it happen, and Democrats aren’t likely to fall for what looks like a trap. It would hurt people, and Trump seems to know it. “The longer I’m behind this desk and you have Obamacare, the more I would own it,” he told the Journal.

TLDR: President Trump flipped on a number of issues and campaign promises in an interview with The Wall Street Journal - marking an apparent move to the political center.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: At a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin , Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said U.S.-Russia relations are at a “low point.” There are no pictures of the meeting because Tillerson ditched his press pool, according to reports. (Ramil Sitdikov/Sputnik via AP)

NOTABLES

--TRUMP SUGGESTS RUSSIA MAY HAVE HAD KNOWLEDGE OF SYRIA CHEMICAL ATTACK: On the day his secretary of state visited Russia for highly anticipated meetings, President Donald Trump called it "unlikely" Russia could have been unaware of Syria's plans for a chemical attack last week that killed at least 87 civilians, notes ABC's ADAM KELSEY. Trump's comment came during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after he was asked for his "instinct" about whether it was possible Syria's government could have initiated the attack without Russia's knowledge. http://abcn.ws/2p7Cs0U

--TRUMP THREATENS TO UNDERMINE OBAMACARE TO GET DEMOCRATS TO NEGOTIATE: Since the failure of the GOP health care bill in the House nearly three weeks ago, President Donald Trump has suggested letting Obamacare explode to bring Democrats to the negotiating table. Now, he’s threatening to push the detonator. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, Trump suggested the federal government would hold back key subsidy payments made to health insurers offering insurance to low-income Americans, writes ABC's BENJAMIN SIEGEL. http://abcn.ws/2ou5CWS

--ANALYSIS: SPICER'S HITLER GAFFE COMPLICATES TRUMP PUSH ON RUSSIA: The Trump administration’s diplomatic dance around Russia and Syria was complicated enough before the Nazis entered the picture. In a startling about-face, the White House went from resisting intervention in Syria to pressuring the Russians to condemn the Assad regime -– all inside a week that saw President Trump order the first major military strike of his presidency, writes ABC's RICK KLEIN. http://abcn.ws/2o811XO

--HIGHLIGHTS FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP'S INTERVIEW WITH THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: President Donald Trump sat down with reporters from the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, making headlines on everything from foreign policy to his own White House staff. The president said that the U.S. is not "insisting" on removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power, but also didn't rule out additional military action in response to Assad's barrel bombs in his country. ABC's ALEXANDER MALLIN and RYAN STRUYK have more: http://abcn.ws/2oq5Blc

SPEED READ with ABC’s ADAM KELSEY

TRUMP FLIPS ON CAMPAIGN PROMISE TO LABEL CHINA AS CURRENCY MANIPULATOR. President Donald Trump publicly reneged Wednesday on a pledge he delivered with consistency throughout his presidential campaign -- his promise to label China a currency manipulator. According to the Wall Street Journal, the president said the decision came in consideration of talks with China over its role in countering North Korean weapons testing, explains ABC's ADAM KELSEY. http://abcn.ws/2o7pz2Z

PRESIDENT TRUMP ON NATO: 'IT'S NO LONGER OBSOLETE.' President Donald Trump reversed course on his view of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Wednesday, saying it is "no longer obsolete," after months of bashing the alliance as no longer relevant during his presidential campaign, reports ABC's RYAN STRUYK. "I said it was obsolete. It's no longer obsolete," he said at a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House. http://abcn.ws/2opt85r

A CLOSER LOOK AT CARTER PAGE, THE TRUMP ASSOCIATE WHO WAS UNDER FBI SCRUTINY. Carter Page can't stop making headlines. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the FBI obtained a secret court order last summer to monitor Donald Trump's former foreign policy adviser because they suspected he might be working with the Russians. Law enforcement officials presented enough evidence, the Post reported, to convince a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge to authorize electronic surveillance of his communication, note ABC's BRIAN ROSS and PETE MADDEN. http://abcn.ws/2o7lJ9e

TRUMP WON'T SAY IF HE HAS CONFIDENCE IN BANNON: REPORT. President Trump was mum on whether he still has confidence in his embattled chief strategist Steve Bannon, according to a published report. The remarks come after Trump recently intervened in a feud between Bannon and Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, administration sources told ABC News. “I like Steve, but you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late,” Trump told The New York Post in an interview Tuesday. ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI has more: http://abcn.ws/2op6Zo0

WH PRESS SECRETARY SEAN SPICER ADMITS HE 'LET THE PRESIDENT DOWN' ON HITLER GAFFE. White House press secretary Sean Spicer is continuing an apology tour for his comments during Tuesday’s briefing comparing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's actions to Adolf Hitler during World War II. "It's disappointing because I've let the president down," a subdued Spicer said Wednesday during a panel discussion at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI note. http://abcn.ws/2o7PasK

IN THE NOTE’S INBOX

NEW JUDICIAL CRISIS NETWORK ADS: The Judicial Crisis Network is launching separate new ads thanking President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley for getting Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court. The $150k digital and cable buy is focused on Washington D.C., Kentucky, and Iowa. WATCH the Kentucky ad ‘Strong’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmE2zVn8cvQ

WHO’S TWEETING?

@ryanbeckwith: In a single day, White House reverses on: • Janet Yellen • Ex-Im Bank • China • NATO • Federal debt • Hiring freeze

@HenryJGomez: GOP primaries where Trump could reward allies/exact revenge on enemies: AZ Senate and MI, OH and SC gov. https://www.buzzfeed.com/henrygomez/republicans-are-waiting-for-trumps-help-or-wrath-as-key?utm_term=.fq50dvQeBL#.rjdNBoepWv

@AshleyRParker: INSIDE Bannon's Struggle: From 'shadow president' to Trump's marked man, w my buds @PhilipRucker & @costareports. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-bannons-struggle-from-shadow-president-to-trumps-marked-man/2017/04/12/1f5aabc0-1f99-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html

@gabrielsherman: Fox News source says Trump was heard on hot mic telling Bartiromo before interview, "Rupert's been a lot better to me than Roger ever was."

@RonWyden: .@realdonaldtrump if this gets 18 million retweets, will you release your tax returns?

@cnnopinion: Steve Bannon and Sean Spicer are architects of their own demise, says @kurtbardella cnn.it/2opC4YO