The Note: Trump's 'America first' approach tested

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here. April 5, 2017 MORE POLITICS > Trump's 'America first' approach tested The Big Story "I'm not, and I don't want to be, the president of the world," President Trump said Tuesday. The context of those comments had nothing to do with the unfolding tragedy in Syria. But the latest shocking and horrifying events will test this White House's stance when it comes to world leadership and human-rights abuses, particularly in this week that includes three world leaders' visits to the United States. Trump's instinct on Syria seems to push him in the direction of criticizing President Obama for his inaction on the infamous "red line." That's one thing, but his U.N. ambassador and even now his secretary of state are going further. "Russia and Iran also bear great moral responsibility for these deaths," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. Does the president agree? And will his administration insist on the Assad regime's ouster, or will he endorse what Tillerson said just last week: that Assad's fate "will be decided by the Syrian people"? And Syria is far from the only foreign policy test on the president's plate. Another missile launch from North Korea just two days before he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida is yet another challenge for Trump. While the secretary of state made clear overnight he's done discussing North Korea, the threat is increasingly the focus of the Mar-a-Lago summit. The Sleeper Story Health care is back. Vice President Mike Pence huddled with a group of centrist and conservative House Republicans Tuesday night and they had a "good talk," according to the VP, but no agreement was made and they did not see any new legislative text. The question remains what will happen to critical components of Obamacare like essential health benefits. If pre-existing condition coverage is effectively undermined by giving states the ability to opt out of the community ratings provision, it could allow insurers to charge sick and older consumers more for health insurance. The White House knows it can't alienate the moderates while courting conservatives so the question remains where to go from here? The conversations will continue today and we know for many Republicans (and the White House) this remains a priority. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., Tuesday night told reporters the message from the president, who gave him a call Tuesday, is that "they want to get this done as quickly as possible on behalf of the American people." Meadows said it's even "premature" to suggest House Republicans can't vote on the measure by the end of the week, though it appears unlikely. The Shiny Story The fallout over Susan Rice's request to "unmask" the identities of some Trump campaign and transition officials continues. Three Republican members of Congress and allies of the president have now sent a letter to the House and Senate Intelligence committees demanding that President Obama's former national security adviser testify and that her "behavior appears negligent, at best, and criminal, at worst." Rice said Tuesday that it is "absolutely false" that the names were unmasked for political purposes, explaining it was all part of her job. "I leaked nothing to nobody," she said in the interview with MSNBC. "Unmasking" isn't leaking, instead, the name in the intelligence reports is only revealed to the person who requested it. These developments still do not explain or give any credibility to the president's tweets a month ago claiming then-President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in New York during the campaign. This story may not be going anywhere right now, but there's still no smoking gun, even if Republicans would like to claim there is, and we still have no evidence whatsoever the former president wiretapped his successor. TLDR The continuing crisis in Syria and the latest tragic events are a new world leadership test for the president, but conflicting statements from the White House and the secretary of state make it unclear where the administration will go from here: insist on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's ouster or not? White House blames Obama admin for suspected Syria chemical attack White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that a suspected chemical attack in a Syrian town was a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." "Today's attack is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world," Spicer told reporters. "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution. President Obama said in 2012 that he'd establish a red line against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing. The U.S. stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable act." The alleged Syrian government airstrike, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in northern Syria, killed at least 72 civilians, including 20 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group. The Syria Civil Defense and the Health Directorate in Idlib said that more than 50 people were killed and 300 injured. ABC's LENA MASRI has more: http://abcn.ws/2nYmm89 READ MORE   North Korea launches missile into Sea of Japan North Korea has launched a KN-15 missile from its eastern coast into the Sea of Japan, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The test comes just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with President Donald Trump in Florida, during which North Korea is expected to be a major point of discussion. "U.S. Pacific Command detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean missile launch at 11:42 a.m. Hawaii time April 4," said Commander David Benham, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command, in a statement. And in a seemingly terse statement, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, "North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment." ABC's LUIS MARTINEZ has more: http://abcn.ws/2oXN12z READ MORE   Susan Rice says it's 'absolutely false' that Obama officials unmasked names for political purposes Former national security adviser Susan Rice says it's "absolutely false" that Obama administration officials unmasked names of Donald Trump's presidential campaign and transition team members for political purposes, reports ABC's RYAN STRUYK. "I leaked nothing to nobody," she told MSNBC on Tuesday afternoon. "If I saw an intelligence report that looked potentially significant...I can make that request," Rice said of unveiling names of American citizens in intelligence reports. http://abcn.ws/2nFVLKI READ MORE   FOLLOW ABC NEWS You Might Like This email was sent to bamsdum.xiomi@blogger.com Please do not reply to this email as this address is not monitored. Newsletter Unsubscribe If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter "Political Unit: The Note" at this email address, you may click here to unsubscribe. 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Ditulis ceo.rss — Rabu, 05 April 2017 — Add Comment