The Note: Will Trump's tax push be on the money?

Trump travels to Missouri to jump-start his legislative agenda.

By
PAOLA CHAVEZ
August 30, 2017, 6:56 AM ET
5 min read

— -- WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • Back to business: President Trump travels to Missouri to jump-start his legislative agenda, with a "tax reform event" at a manufacturing facility.
  • "This is the way to do it."In his first trip to Texas since the storm, Trump thanked first responders and remained confident that disaster relief would come swiftly. He also urged officials to make the Harvey response a model for the future.
  • Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced that current policy around transgender troops will "remain in place" for now, meaning transgender service members can continue to serve while the Pentagon conducts a six-month review.
  • Donald Trump Jr. will give a closed-door, transcribed interview before the Senate Judiciary Committee, as investigators look into his 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer.

    • THE TAKE with ABC News' Rick Klein

    And so we’re back to – what, exactly? The superlatives will fade, the sense of shared mission will be mired in the reality of recovery, and the upbeat presidential tone will surely evaporate before the water recedes. President Trump will change his own focus almost immediately, in keeping a planned speech this afternoon in Missouri aimed at getting tax overhaul on track. His agenda needs a jump-start, and a return to economic populism – Trump-style – is a piece of that. But will he find a country that’s slightly less interested in political fights? It’s one thing to pardon Joe Arpaio on a night when the nation is watching television. It’s another to shift the national spotlight to an "unrigging" tax theme and, say, harsh news for DREAMers. Again in his presidency, the onus is on Trump to fit his behavior to the moment. "Everybody is talking about it," Trump said about the coordination between local and federal officials in Texas. Well, maybe not for long.

    Trump’s 'unpresidential' conduct

    While the images of the president's visiting Texas Tuesday were, no doubt, meant to project strength and stability, he faces a larger issue when it comes to how people view his approach to the job thus far. According to a new survey from Pew Research, 58 percent of Americans say they don’t like the way Trump conducts himself as president, while 25 percent say they have mixed feelings, and just 16 percent say they like his conduct. Those disapproving of President Trump’s conduct spans across almost all demographic and partisan groups – including 46 percent of Republicans who say they have mixed feelings about Trump’s conduct, and 19 percent who say they don’t like it. Another striking trend – Trump supporters are more likely to say that the president’s tweeting and social media use are their top concerns about his behavior. It cannot come as good news to the White House that these numbers come right as the president is aiming to unite the country in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s mounting devastation, ABC NEWS' JOHN VERHOVEK writes.

    QUOTE OF THE DAY

    "We don't want to congratulate. We'll congratulate each other when it's all finished," Trump said in Corpus Christi, Texas, Tuesday.

    WHAT TO WATCH TODAY

    The president will depart Washington, D.C., at 11:20 a.m. ET and arrive in Springfield, Missouri at 12:55 p.m. CDT. Upon arriving he will participate in a tax overhaul event at the Loren Cook Co., a manufacturer that makes ventilation equipment.

    NEED TO READ with ABC News' Daksha Sthipam

    Trump warns "all options are on the table" after North Korea fires missile over Japan. After North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan, President Donald Trump warned that "all options are on the table" as the United States considers its response. "The world has received North Korea's latest message loud and clear: This regime has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior," said Trump in a statement. http://abcn.ws/2wPJStG

    Mattis: Transgender service members will continue to serve, pending 6-month study. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday that transgender service members will continue to serve in the military while the Pentagon conducts a study of how to implement President Trump's directive that would ban transgender individuals from serving in the military. Mattis said he would establish a panel of experts from within the Defense Department "to provide advice and recommendations." http://abcn.ws/2wIpiLy

    Trump thanks Texas officials for hurricane response, reserves congratulations for when it's 'all finished'. Thanking state and local government officials and emergencyresponse leaders in Texas for their work in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, President Donald Trump Tuesday stopped short of offering congratulations for a job well done, saying there is still work to do. He is visiting parts of Texas ravaged by the storm and will return on Saturday. http://abcn.ws/2wPSoJk

    Freedom Caucus chairman: Border funding can wait to avoid shutdown. The chairman of the influential House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said on ABC News’ "Powerhouse Politics" today that http://abcn.ws/2gnk8y2 he and many of his group's members want to avert a government shutdown this fall, even if no money is included for a proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall -- a position seemingly at odds with that of President Donald Trump.

    Mexico offers hurricane help; no decision on whether to accept it. The Washington Post

    Trump in Texas, calls Harvey recovery response effort a "real team." New York Times

    Virginia received DHS warning before Charlottesville rally. Politico

    Trump's ability to govern tested by Harvey at home and North Korea abroad. The Washington Post

    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.