The Note: The world adjusting to Trump

World leaders are appealing to Trump to either stay in or pull out of the deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron used hand-holding and tree planting to help make his case. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used clip art and PowerPoint – and a speech in English, in Tel Aviv – to make his.

An extraordinary scene is playing out as the May 12 deadline for recertifying the Iran nuclear deal approaches. World leaders are appealing to President Donald Trump to either stay in or pull out of the deal, in ways that they hope Trump can appreciate.

The pro and con arguments obscure the very possible middle ground, where Trump blasts the existing deal but doesn’t actually end it. Instead, he would put his weight behind evolving efforts to add longer-term components to a deal that is scheduled to expire in seven years – which, according to Trump, “is tomorrow – that’s not acceptable.”

In the meantime, we are witnessing a remarkable example of the world adjusting to Trump’s personality, and maybe his whims. And the path to any Nobel Peace Prize will feature some threats of war, it would seem.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

Primary voters in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and North Carolina head to the polls a week from today. Washington and foreign policy headlines may be swirling overheard, but beneath it all many voters likely will make their choices based on local and pocketbook issues.

Take health care – specifically Medicaid expansions – which are front and center on the ballot in Ohio and other states.

Mary Taylor, Ohio’s Republican Lt. Governor, broke with the state’s governor on the issue. She is actively campaigning, as one of her new ads says, on a promise to overturn “John Kasich’s Obamacare expansion.” Her primary opponent in the race, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, has been softer (and more vague) on the issue.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats running in the state are pushing the issue. One of the leading Democrats, former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray, said in response to Taylor’s ad: “It is an urgent reminder of the stakes this November. Protecting Medicaid expansion is literally life or death for many thousands of Ohioans.”

His primary opponent, though, former congressman Dennis Kucinich, received the backing of the largest nurses’ union yesterday after proposing a single-payer, Medicare-for-all-style health care system for the state last week.

In Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee, too, the issue continues to come up and challenge candidates on both sides.

The TIP with John Verhovek

With Ohio’s primary day just days away Republicans are grappling with crowded primaries and intra-party squabbling that could cost them another U.S. House seat in November.

The latest battle is in the state’s vacant 12th Congressional District, last held by GOP Rep. Pat Tiberi.

Tiberi’s preferred successor, state Sen. Troy Balderson, is the target of a new television ad from the Club for Growth, and is trying to hold off Trump-aligned Republican Melanie Leneghan to win the party’s nomination for the August 7th special election.

The district is less Republican-leaning than Pennsylvania’s 18th and Arizona’s 8th, the sites of the last two House special elections that saw Democrats over-perform expectations, and the primary fight is already increasing anxiety that the GOP could be one seat closer to losing their majority come August.

Republicans are also hoping Ohio’s 16th Congressional District, an open seat race with Rep. Jim Renacci running for U.S. Senate, doesn’t cause similar primary problems. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is up with its first ad in the race backing former NFL player Anthony Gonzalez over another Trump-aligned candidate, Ohio state Rep. Christian Hagan.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • President Donald Trump presents the Commander in Chief’s Trophy to the U.S. Military Academy Football Team and will later meet with the crew and passengers of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 at 1:45 p.m.
  • Secretary of Defense James Mattis holds an enhanced honor cordon with the defense minister of Macedonia at 10:30 a.m.
  • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks at the State Department at 11:30 a.m.
  • Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein holds a discussion at the Newseum on the rule of law, the First Amendment and the mission of the Justice Department at 2:00 p.m.
  • White House press secretary Sarah Sanders holds a press briefing at 2:30 p.m.
  • QUOTE OF THE DAY

    "The problem in the Republican Party is that they have made it very clear that nobody is welcome to be a candidate for national office that does not support Donald Trump. I’m out of the Republican Party, I’m fed up." — Richard Painter, former chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, frequent Trump critic and lifelong Republican, announcing he’s running for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota as a Democrat.

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    Trump critic, former Bush ethics lawyer Richard Painter announces US Senate bid in Minnesota. Richard Painter, the former chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, announced his bid Monday for the U.S. Senate seat once held by Al Franken. (John Verhovek) https://abcn.ws/2HEiipm

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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.