The Note: Trump's impact on the world order

ByRick Klein and MaryAlice Parks
July 12, 2018, 6:00 AM
President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White in Washington, June 27, 2018, before boarding Marine One helicopter for the short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White in Washington, June 27, 2018, before boarding Marine One helicopter for the short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP, FILE

The TAKE with Rick Klein

The bluster and the insults represent President Donald Trump's way of doing business – aimed, primarily, at America's friends.

But provocative comments and demands about defense spending mark only the start of the potential impact Trump is having on the world order. Trump, and the forces he represents, are washing over Europe and beyond, creating uncomfortable truths for U.S. allies.

The rest of the world is watching. Other nations don't necessarily have the luxury of deciding whether to take Trump seriously or literally, try as they might to discern the president's intentions.

As Trump finishes his NATO trip Thursday and moves on to the United Kingdom, where the government is near the precipice of crisis, a week of uncommon disruptions puts the president's style on full display. It has drawn rebukes from Republican lawmakers back in Washington, and threats of tying his hands further in international affairs.

Monday's meeting with Vladimir Putin may not be the easy one, as Trump foresaw. But Putin has reasons to smile at the family fights on display from afar.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

There's a reason the White House invited most red-state Democrats to the president's Supreme Court announcement. Three of them, after all, voted for his last nominee to the highest court, Justice Neil Gorsuch.

It is possible at least one of them does so again.

It is hard to imagine a Senate Democrat, even one in a tight re-election race back home, casting the 51st vote to put Judge Brett Kavanaugh over the top. But if Republicans stick together and have the numbers, what do Democrats gain by demanding a "no" from someone who might benefit politically from a "yes" vote?

PHOTO: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh listens to Sen. Rob Portman on Capitol Hill in Washington, during a meeting, July 11, 2018.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh listens to Sen. Rob Portman on Capitol Hill in Washington, during a meeting, July 11, 2018.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

There are some messaging benefits, perhaps. Democrats stuck together on health care and taxes, though in both cases it was not clear Republicans had the numbers – and the idea of repealing something like health care is entirely different to begin with.

Focusing on voting as a bloc feels in some way as though the Senate Democratic leadership has already conceded. The math is the math. They don't have the numbers.

It is surprising though that on this issue, of all issues, Democrats don't seem to be thinking out of the box. At least not yet.

Leader Mitch McConnell broke years of precedent and refused to take up President Obama's nominee. Republicans actually blew up the rules, "went nuclear," to make it categorically easier to confirm someone.

Are Democrats trying to play by, or concede by, old rules that don't exist?

The TIP with Adam Kelsey

If you want to run for president as a Democrat in 2020, you have to be, well, a Democrat.

That idea may sound obvious to some, but was, in fact, one that moved a step closer to becoming official Wednesday at a meeting of the DNC's Rules and Bylaws committee.

At first glance, the change, which originated from the party's Unity Reform Commission, would appear to be aimed at Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate and ran for president in 2016 under the party's flag.

But the requirements — a public affirmation that the candidate is a Democrat and a written assurance to the party chair that they "will accept the Democratic nomination" and "run and serve as a member of the Democratic Party" — don't quite come across as earth-shattering commitments.

Instead, it's believed by some DNC members that the change targets potential outsider candidates, such as former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, businessman Mark Cuban, or Republican-turned-Independent former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose allegiances may be more in question.

PHOTO: Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz speaks at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Seattle, March 22, 2017.
Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz speaks at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Seattle, March 22, 2017.

The rule, as written, must still be approved by the full DNC at its meeting next month in Chicago.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • President Trump holds a North Atlantic Council meeting with Georgia and Ukraine. He then departs for England to participate in a Gala Dinner with Prime Minister Theresa May at 3:15 p.m. ET.

  • House Speaker Paul Ryan makes remarks on the revitalized U.S. economy with the Economic Club of Washington D.C. President David Rubenstein at 8:30 a.m.

  • Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks at the National Press Club on how President Trump's foreign trade policies and relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin have affected America's relations with NATO allies at 10 a.m.

  • FBI agent Peter Strzok appears on Capitol Hill to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on FBI and DOJ oversight of the 2016 presidential election at 10 a.m.

    • QUOTE OF THE DAY

    "I've never seen a president say anything as strange or counterproductive as President Trump's harangue against NATO and Germany." — Former Secretary of State John Kerry, in a statement following President Trump's blistering remarks on Germany at the NATO summit Wednesday.

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    The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the key political moments of the day ahead. Please check back tomorrow for the latest.