The Note: Trump's bombshell interview drops on his 6-month mark
Trump marks his first six months in office with a dig at Jeff Sessions.
— -- WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
THE TAKE with ABC News’ Rick Klein
This should be a moment of reflection and respect in honor of and prayer for a man who is – yes – a war hero. But at the six-month mark of Donald Trump’s presidency, that moment can’t take place, drowned out as it is by the noise machine that is President Donald Trump. The latest is more than just noise: a stunning New York Times interview where he attacks one of his longest-running political loyalists, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and puts special counsel Robert Mueller on notice. It’s inexplicable because of the timing: This is the final stretch for health care, one way or the other. Then there’s the message this sends to his most dedicated aides and advisers: No one is safe from an aggrieved Trump outburst. He does his lawyers – and his own legal case - no favors by trying to wall off his finances from Mueller’s inquiry; that’s not the way it works, and he knows it. Trump has long had a side of him that seems to enjoy feeling wronged. In the Times interview, he switched to third person to describe Sessions’ recusal decision as “very unfair to the president.” Fair or not, the president is doing his best to leave himself isolated, at a time that he needs friends.
WASHINGTON ROOTING FOR MCCAIN
It is clear from the outpouring of support for John McCain Wednesday night that the war hero remains one of the most admired and adored politicians in the country. Like so much of McCain’s life, the burst of emotion was perhaps about things bigger than him, though. McCain has come to represent the idea of country before party, and before self: sacrifice, honor, constructive behavior. These are, of course, qualities lacking these days in Washington. Half a year into the Trump presidency, the country’s focus deserves to be on a man Trump attacked, and who hasn’t hesitated to stand up to him when he thinks it right. He has his flaws. But as a senator, a presidential candidate and a person, McCain is already seen as almost anti-Trumpian, a man who defended his opponents when their character was questioned, and who tried to stamp out conspiracy theories instead of inflaming them, ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks writes.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“God knows how this ends, not me. But I do know this: This disease has never had a more worthy opponent.” --South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham on his friend Sen. John McCain.
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
After Trump criticized both of them in a New York Times interview, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are slated to join other law enforcement officials in holding a news conference at the Department of Justice.
President Trump visits the Pentagon today. The first time he did so, he signed an executive order.
NEED TO READ with ABC News’ Daksha Sthipam
ANALYSIS: Trump 6 months in - the great fixer needs fixing. Donald Trump is governing as he campaigned -– defiantly, angrily, and not necessarily productively. The problem comes that for all the president’s exertions and proclamations, a power vacuum now defines Trump’s Washington. http://abcn.ws/2ubsEms
ANALYSIS: How Trump's foreign policy has affected global relations. President Donald Trump has been in office for just six months, but if there is one thing critics and supporters can agree on, it’s that in that short time, he has left an indelible mark on international relations. Here, a look at the foreign policy moments that mattered and where the world may be headed next: http://abcn.ws/2uBRheP
The Congressional Budget Office estimates 32 million more uninsured in a decade with Obamacare repeal alone. The Congressional Budget Office's estimate of Senate Republicans' latest push to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a concurrent replacement plan indicates the strategy would result in a major increase of the country's uninsured. The number of uninsured would increase to 17 million in 2018, then 27 million in 2020, then 32 million by 2026. http://abcn.ws/2vDN7zI
Trump questions states' withholding voter data at election commission meeting. “If any state does not want to share this information, one has to wonder what they are worried about, and I asked the vice president, I asked the commission, what are they worried about?” the president asked rhetorically. "There's something, there always is." http://abcn.ws/2vjBrTx
WHO’S TWEETING?
@BarackObama: John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John.
@karentravers: Based on transcript of excerpts of NYT intv, it took just 21 words before Pres Trump mentions Hillary Clinton… http://nyti.ms/2ti5UQz
@KFILE: Sessions was the first senator, and third member of Congress to endorse Trump. Can't imagine what he's thinking reading that interview.
@johnrobertsFox: .@realDonaldTrump interview with @maggieNYT was devastating for A-G Sessions. Can't imagine that he'll stick around long.
@JonLemire: New @AP poll: only 13 percent support Republican moves to repeal “Obamacare” absent a replacement http://bit.ly/2tryxij
@jennagiesta: New CNN polling on health care: 35% want GOP to abandon plans for repeal, 77% prefer a bipartisan bill. http://cnn.it/2vFgrWy
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.
Related Topics
Related Stories
ABC News Live