PROFILE
FROM Callum Borchers
Trump calls to Mexican, Australian leaders A week after January's inauguration, President Trump talked by phone to the leaders of Mexico and Australia. The Washington Post has obtained transcripts of those conversations kept by note takers — revealing what the Post calls "jaw-dropping" lines very different from what was reported in official news releases. Callum Borchers, who's with the Post's blog, The Fix , has details.
A Clinton/Warren ‘Dream Ticket’? Hillary Clinton met with Senator Elizabeth Warren Friday, fueling speculation that Clinton talked to Warren about being a possible running mate. It would be a dream ticket for liberal Democrats. Warren endorsed Clinton Thursday night, but she hasn’t always been such an ardent supporter of her. In fact, in her 2003 book, The Two-Income Trap, Warren suggested that Clinton wasn’t a very principled politician, and that she bowed to Wall Street pressure in a controversial vote she cast on a bankruptcy bill in 2001.
The Syrian Government and the Massacre at Houla Monitors for the United Nations have confirmed 108 victims , including 49 children and 34 women — many executed at close range — by Syrian soldiers last Friday. After this latest massacre in Houla , western nations have thrown Syrian diplomats out of their countries. The US today increased financial sanctions. But, there's no consensus on what to do next. Mitt Romney issued a statement saying it's time for the US to arm the rebels and criticizing President Obama for giving Syria's Assad regime time to murder more of its own people. The Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey said the US military is ready. We hear about a tattered peace plan and calls for arming Syria's rag-tag rebels.
Syria: Agonizing Questions with No Good Answers In the aftermath of Friday's massacre in Houla -- including at least 34 women and 49 children – Washington is divided over how to accomplish regime change in Syria. Mitt Romney says the US should arm Syrian rebels. President Obama is focused on diplomacy. There's also dispute within both parties of Congress. Who are the rebels? What would it take for them to defeat Assad's army? Would arming them lead to chaos or a proxy war between other countries? How long can the world stand by while a government slaughters its own people?
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Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.