The Note: National Insecurity
— -- NOTABLES
--HILLARY TO HAMMER TRUMP: Hillary Clinton is expected to lay into Donald Trump -- further outlining why she believes he is “fundamentally unfit” to be commander-in-chief -- during a national security address today in San Diego, according to a preview of her remarks released by the campaign. The speech -- her first on national security since Trump became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee -- kicks off Clinton’s five-day swing through California ahead of the state's June 7 primary. ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ has more: http://abcn.ws/1Vy4zQ2
--WHAT SHE WILL SAY: Clinton will not mention her Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders. Instead, an aide to Clinton tells ABC News she plans to use these remarks to criticize the man she’ll likely run against in the general election for his "dangerous" foreign policy proposals and for his "incessant trash-talking of America." Specifically, he said, she will call out the real estate mogul-turned-reality TV star-turned-presidential candidate for his position on nuclear weapons and war crimes, for saying the United States should get out of NATO, and for his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country. http://abcn.ws/1Vy4zQ2
--RNC PREBUTTAL -- ‘CLINTON: A DISASTER FOR U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY’: In anticipation of Clinton’s attack against the presumptive Republican nominee, the Republican National Committee is releasing a fresh memo today blasting Clinton, ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI notes. “Military intervention in Libya was dubbed ‘Hillary's war,’ and now Libya is a safe haven for terrorists and has become an ISIS stronghold,” according to the memo, which enumerates what the RNC says are Clinton’s national security failures. FULL MEMO: http://bit.ly/25zgW13
--TIGHT RACE IN THE GOLDEN STATE: Clinton and Sanders are neck and neck in the California Democratic primary, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Wednesday. Among surveyed voters likely to participate in the Democratic primary, Clinton polled at 49 percent and Sanders at 47 percent. These numbers are similar to those in a poll released last week from Public Policy Institute of California, which showed Clinton at 46 percent and Sanders at 44 percent, ABC’s NOAH FITZGEREL notes. The California primary is among the last big prizes of the primary season. Sanders and Clinton will be battling for 546 delegates in the California Democratic primary, scheduled for June 7. http://abcn.ws/1UvlikA
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and PAOLA CHAVEZ
CLINTON CALLS TRUMP A ‘FRAUD,’ ACCUSES HIM OF ‘SCAM’ IN TRUMP UNIVERSITY. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton issued one of her sharpest critiques yet of Donald Trump, calling him a “fraud” and accusing him of “trying to scam America,” ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ reports. "He is trying to scam America the way he scammed all those people at Trump U," Clinton said while campaigning at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, yesterday. Clinton is referring to Trump University, a now defunct seminar program started by the real estate mogul that is now the subject of litigation in New York and California alleging that the program cheated participants out of cash. http://abcn.ws/1ZdMVA5
TRUMP USES FORMER STUDENTS TO FIRE BACK IN TRUMP UNIVERSITY CONTROVERSY. Representatives for Donald Trump Wednesday responded to a series of detailed questions related to the alleged fraud at Trump University not with detailed answers of their own, but with a link to a YouTube video featuring several self-identified former students who praised the now-defunct, highly controversial real estate program. “The courses that I took were outstanding. They were excellent in terms of the quality of the content,” says one former student, identified as Kent Moyer, founder of the security services firm World Protection Group. “In fact, I still have them on my iTunes and my cell phone and listen to them every once in a while.” The video was published a day after court documents in a California fraud suit against Trump University were made public, including a statement from a former manager who alleged the program was little more than a money-making “scheme.” ABC’s LEE FERRAN, MATTHEW MOSK, and BRIAN ROSS have more. http://abcn.ws/1UvtaT9
NOTED: NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL SLAMS TRUMP UNIVERSITY AS 'FRAUD FROM BEGINNING TO END'. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is confident that the case against Donald Trump and Trump University will prove that the real estate mogul personally pocketed millions from the now-defunct program. “He keeps saying he’s going to win the case, but he keeps losing motions” in court, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said today on ABC News’ “Good Morning America.” Trump University is the target of two lawsuits in California and one in New York, where Schneiderman is pursuing fraud-related charges. http://abcn.ws/1Uwuc1i
TRUMP’S SIZABLE LEAD AMONG WHITE MALE VOTERS INCREASES. A new general election poll has Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton with a slight lead over Donald Trump in a general election matchup, but the presumptive Republican nominee continues to excel among while male voters. The Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday has Trump leading among both white men and women, but the gap for men is much more pronounced when considering a specific subset. The poll has Trump leading Clinton among white men 60 percent to 26 percent in a head-to-head matchup, according to ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY. http://abcn.ws/1TQ55JP
TRUMP TO EXPECTED VISIT SCOTLAND AMID TENSION WITH UK LEADERS. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is expected to attend the grand opening of his newest resort in Scotland later this month, on the same day the results of the U.K.’s European Union referendum are likely to be announced. Trump plans to visit the Trump Turnberry June 24, campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told ABC News Wednesday. There had been rumors that Trump might make a stop to meet Cameron during this trip, according to ABC’s JOHN SANTUCCI and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI. But officials at Downing Street have said no such plans exist at this time. And sources within the Trump campaign stress this trip abroad should not be seen as some kind of foreign diplomacy mission but, as of now, just a celebration of Turnberry. http://abcn.ws/1RNPEdM
OBAMA DELIVERS FIERY REBUKE OF DONALD TRUMP’S PROPOSALS. With more grey hair but no political office to seek, President Obama evoked the campaign passion that propelled him to the White House eight years ago, challenging presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in his most pointed assault on the New York businessman to date. Delivering remarks on the economy in Elkhart, Indiana, the president made the case for four more years of progressive policies in the White House while aiming to “challenge the assumptions” of the rhetoric during the GOP presidential primary. Without ever identifying Trump by name, ABC’s JOHN PARKINSON notes, Obama aimed to discredit his policy proposals, underscoring his belief that a President Trump would return the United States to the depths of the financial crisis. http://abcn.ws/1P74Na4
FLASHBACK: TRUMP IN 1994: ‘PUTTING A WIFE TO WORK IS A VERY DANGEROUS THING.’ In a 1994 interview with ABC News, Donald Trump reflected on the women in his life and what he believed the virtues and perils of their career success meant for his marriages. He compared his role in their professional lives to how he developed buildings, ABC’s JORDYN PHELPS writes. “I love creating stars. And to a certain extent, I've done that with Ivana. To a certain extent, I've done that with Marla. And I like that," Trump told "Primetime Live" correspondent Nancy Collins in an interview that aired on March 10, 1994. “Unfortunately, after they're a star, the fun is over for me," he continued. "It's like a creation process, it's almost like creating a building. It's pretty sad.” http://abcn.ws/1TYo8Ql
WHO’S TWEETING?
@blakehounshell: NEWS: Trump personally lobbied the Better Business Bureau to get higher ratings for Trump U http://politi.co/24k9Aw7
@mikiebarb: Forget Twitter. Trump's secret weapon are letters of love, flattery, & revenge. I reviewed 40 years worth of them: http://nyti.ms/285stHL
@micahcohen: Can the missing white voters help @realDonaldTrump? http://53eig.ht/1t3tkJa
@amychozick: Clinton allies must be cautious in wooing GOP, efforts include plans to reach Romney, James Baker, Nick Brady. http://nyti.ms/1r3BuPI
@abbydphillip: What the movie ‘Weiner’ tells us about Huma Abedin, via @ktumulty http://wapo.st/1PmI27N