Scott Pruitt announced that Obama era limits on gas mileage will be eased in the coming months. Though there are secret negotiations with California and the EPA to actually keep them, so this week may be a Trump tactic of starting with a strong opening bid.
Every day this week saw several stories about Pruitt misconduct in office: he rented a DC apartment from a lobbying firm that also serves an oil company that Pruitt’s EPA cleared to extend a pipeline.
The condo story got stranger as the week progressed, from a story about how Pruitt’s security detail had to break down the door to get to him, and that the landlords had to force him out by changing the locks on him after he overstayed his lease.
The Times and The Post have stories about strange spending habits of Pruitt–from a bullet proof desk to a secure communication closet. Also, five close aids who confronted him about his spending and security requests have been fired or reasigned.
Stocks dropped further this week on fears of a trade war with China. Industry leaders are pushing back against the White House.
The White House appears split and trying to walk back it’s trade war talk with China, saying the tariffs may never go into effect. They are reacting to stock market drops and push back from industry.
The Homeland Security Secretary announced on Wednesday that the National Guard will be sent to the Mexico boarder immediately to support boarder patrol agents. However, there are no details about how many, when and where because the boarder states’ governors have to agree to the plan.
Mike Allen wrote a column titled Time for Extreme Worry in which he reports on people close to Trump saying they are worried about the level of chaos he is ushering into his White House.
Johnathan Chait has a nice round up of recent stories about Trump’s change of behavior, including one about how his aids are sending people on Judge Jeanine Pirro to communicate points to him since he won’t sit for briefings.
In Russia News:
In Trump’s congratulatory call last week he proposed inviting Putin to the White House.
The Washington Post reported this week that last month Mueller’s team told Trump’s lawyers that Trump is under investigation but not a criminal target. That is getting most of the headlines. But another new piece of news is that Mueller is compiling reports that Rosenstein hope to release to the public: “They’ve said they want to write a report on this — to answer the public’s questions — and they need the president’s interview as the last step.”
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Trump’s Job Approval: 40%