POLITICO Playbook PM: What George W. Bush’s economist said about Trump behind closed doors Presented by Amazon

Larry Lindsey said he enlisted two psychiatrists to analyze the president from afar. China views President Donald Trump as a “total narcissist” -- “a 10-out-of-10 narcissist,” he said. | Luke Frazza/AFP/Getty Images

BEHIND THE SCENES … LARRY LINDSEY, President George W. Bush’s National Economic Council director, spoke Tuesday separately to both the elected House GOP leadership and top committee Republicans, and his presentation about China and trade turned a lot of heads, according to multiple people who were in both meetings.

LINDSEY, who has an economic consultancy, was a guest of House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY. Lindsey said he enlisted two psychiatrists to analyze the president from afar. China views President DONALD TRUMP as a “total narcissist” -- “a 10-out-of-10 narcissist,” he said. Lindsey attributed this to the president’s upbringing and said his mother didn’t pay him adequate attention in childhood.

LINDSEY said Trump has no long-term plans or ability to think ahead. He said the president has the long-term decision-making ability of an “empty chair.” The psychiatrists said Chinese President XI JINPING and Trump are very different people, Lindsey said, according to people in both meetings.

ALL THAT ASIDE, LINDSEY did say he was in favor of the president’s China policy, and postulated that, because of some of his traits, he might be able to get a deal with Xi. He said that Trump’s position vis-a-vis China is strong, that the U.S. is in a better position than China and that it’s important that America not back down. Lindsey declined to comment.

NEW … Speaker NANCY PELOSI and Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER are tentatively going to the White House to meet with TRUMP on Wednesday at 11 a.m., per several Hill sources. It’s unclear who else will be at the meeting. TRUMP is supposed to have figured out options of how to pay for the $2 trillion infrastructure package by then. (Burgess Everett was a key part of this item)

BLOOMBERG’S @JenniferJJacobs: “Scoop by @sdonnan: White House plans to delay imposing tariffs on auto imports for now. Trump’s deadline to decide on the tariffs is May 18, but aides at WH meeting yesterday discussed delaying for up to six months. Idea is to let the Japan and EU trade negotiations play out.” More from Adam Behsudi and Eliana Johnson

SPOTTED: Justice Stephen Breyer on the 10 a.m. American Airlines flight from Boston to DCA. He traveled solo, had a New York Times in hand, boarded early and sat in the exit row in coach.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS TRY TO AMP UP PRESSURE … THE GOP filed a petition to try to force a vote on a bill that would, among other things, allow states to stop doing business with businesses or organizations that boycott Israel. Look for them to make the point that nearly 30 Democrats co-sponsored similar legislation last Congress.

JOHN BRESNAHAN and HEATHER CAYGLE: “House Democrats will not hold floor votes on contempt resolutions against Attorney General William Barr or any other Trump administration officials until at least June, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Wednesday. … Hoyer added that Democratic leaders are assembling a package of contempt resolutions that would be approved at one time, although there is no timetable on what that will reach the floor.” POLITICO

-- “Trump White House letter blasts House Democratic investigation requests,” by Eliana Johnson and Kyle Cheney: “In a 12-page later to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone argued that Nadler's inquiry is an improper assertion of congressional authority and intended to ‘harass’ a political opponent rather than drive legislation. Cipollone called on Nadler to cancel his investigation altogether.” POLITICO

Good Wednesday afternoon.

HAPPENING THURSDAY -- “Trump officials to brief lawmakers after warning of Iranian threats,” by Heather Caygle and Burgess Everett

IMMIGRATION FILES -- CNN’S RENE MARSH and GREGORY WALLACE: “TSA to deploy hundreds, including air marshals, to border”: “The task of the TSA workers, which a source said will include air marshals, will be to assist temporarily with immigration duties. TSA acknowledged in an internal email the ‘immediate need’ comes with the acceptance of ‘some risk’ of depleted resources in aviation security.

“TSA plans for the deployments to involve up to 175 law enforcement officials and as many as ‘400 people from Security Ops,’ according to two sources and the email. At least initially, the efforts will not involve uniformed airport screeners, according to the email, which says that some parts of TSA would be asked to contribute ‘around 10%’ of its workforce.” CNN

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- “White House will not sign on to Christchurch pact to stamp out online extremism amid free speech concerns,” by WaPo’s Tony Romm and Drew Harwell: “The decision comes as world leaders prepare to announce the so-called ‘Christchurch call to action’ on Wednesday, an effort named after the New Zealand city where a shooter attacked two mosques in an attack inspired by online hate and broadcast on social-media sites. The document calls on governments and tech giants to improve their efforts to study and stop the spread of harmful content.

“U.S. officials said they stand ‘with the international community in condemning terrorist and violent extremist content online,’ and support the goals of the Christchurch document. But the White House said in a statement it is ‘not currently in a position to join the endorsement’ … The decision puts the United States at odds with U.S. tech companies including Facebook and Google, which are expected to support the effort.” WaPo

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TRADE WARS -- MEGAN CASSELLA: “Mnuchin says deal on steel tariffs with Canada, Mexico is ‘close’”

-- “Chinese President Xi Jinping warns of disaster if one civilisation imposes its will on another,” by South China Morning Post’s Liu Zhen and Teddy Ng: “Xi’s remarks, delivered at the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilisations, where Beijing demonstrated its soft power, did not mention the US but were regarded as the highest level response yet to tough rhetoric from Washington.” SCMP

-- NYT’S PETER GOODMAN in London: “The Global Economy Was Improving. Then the Fighting Resumed”: “If both sides follow through on their threatened tariffs, China’s annual economic output will be reduced by 0.8 percent while the United States will see its annual growth reduced by 0.3 percent, according to Oxford Economics.

“Those numbers are small in the grand scheme of things, but the pain could be felt acutely within industries that are especially exposed to the trade war, such as American agriculture and Chinese electronics manufacturers. The harm could be especially severe for countries that are most dependent on trade, including Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico and Japan.” NYT

SARAH FERRIS: “Moderate Dems look to break logjam on minimum wage boost”: “The moderates’ plan would still offer a path to doubling the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over five years, but would come with an insurance option of sorts, according to multiple aides: a requirement that the Government Accountability Office conduct a study on the policy’s economic impacts after roughly two years. The House Education and Labor Committee would then have a chance to recommend what action — if any — House leadership should take.” POLITICO

WSJ’S KRISTINA PETERSON and KATE DAVIDSON: “White House Resistance to Budget Deal Worries Republicans”: “In preliminary discussions, senior aides to President Trump, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, have resisted a two-year agreement and argued instead for a one-year extension of current funding, according to lawmakers and aides from both parties in both chambers.” WSJ

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EYES ON THE SKIES -- TANYA SNYDER: “Cruz to FAA nominee: ‘Be pissed off that 346 people died’”: “‘Bureaucratic inertia is powerful,’ Cruz (R-Texas) said at a Senate hearing on the the nomination of former Delta Air Lines executive Steve Dickson. … Cruz said there had been a ‘serious breakdown in the certification process’ and accused the FAA of ‘agency capture’ by Boeing. He warned that easiest thing for Dickson to do as he assumes his new role is to do nothing. …

“Dickson asked Cruz not to mistake his calm demeanor for satisfaction ‘or saying that any accident is acceptable — it is not.’ He promised to be ‘the captain of the ship’ and a ‘steady hand on the tiller’ but that ‘doesn’t mean I’m not going to be asking tough questions.’ He committed to Cruz that he would work to ‘figure out what the hell went wrong.’” POLITICO

HATCH ACT ALERT … ANITA KUMAR: “Complaints grow that Trump staffers are campaigning for their boss”: “A Trump appointee displayed a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat at her Housing and Urban Development office. A top official at the Office of Management and Budget used his official Twitter account to promote President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. And White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway delivered a scathing and unprompted attack on Trump’s potential opponent, Joe Biden, during a TV interview.

“Those three instances — all in the last few months — are just a few of the growing number of complaints since Trump took office that federal employees are using their platform to campaign for the president or his allies, a violation of the Hatch Act. … Such sloganeering would once have startled lawmakers and even the public. … But increasingly, the public — and, watchdog groups say, the Trump administration — merely shrugs at such activities, representing another political norm trampled.” POLITICO

TRUMP INC. -- “High Season at Mar-a-Lago Is Over, but Concern Over Security Lingers,” by NYT’s Katie Rogers and Frances Robles in Palm Beach, Fla.: “The season that just ended produced more evidence of what [intelligence professionals] regard as Mr. Trump’s lax attitude toward security, including his use of a personal cellphone, the sensitive conversations he holds with world leaders in front of guests on the club’s patio, and a pattern of overriding security clearance recommendations.” NYT

-- “Trump’s prized Doral resort is in steep decline, according to company documents, showing his business problems are mounting,” by WaPo’s David Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell

YES, BUT … STEVE SHEPARD: “Poll: Voters still see Trump as a successful businessman”: “[D]espite news stories about his enterprises running up losses so great that they afforded him massive write-downs, most voters still see the president as a successful businessman, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

“A majority, 54 percent, say they think Trump has been successful in business, the poll shows, while 36 percent say he has been unsuccessful. … Fully 85 percent of Republican voters say Trump has been successful, while only 10 percent say he’s been unsuccessful. Democratic voters see Trump’s business career differently: Three in 10, 30 percent, say he’s been successful, while 61 percent say he’s been unsuccessful. Among independents, 49 percent say Trump has been successful, and 34 percent say he’s been unsuccessful.” POLITICO

2020 WATCH -- DANIEL STRAUSS and ELENA SCHNEIDER: “‘He’s white, male and gay’: Buttigieg hits obstacles with black voters”: “[A]s the mayor of South Bend, Ind., devotes more effort to campaigning for black votes in the South and elsewhere, he will have to break down some resistance over his sexual orientation, particularly among older voters, according to interviews with more than a dozen African American activists, political strategists and clergy, as well as a review of public polling.

“Buttigieg and his campaign are well aware of the issue. As he skips from sold-out fundraisers to overflowing rallies around the country, Buttigieg set aside time last week for a smaller gathering of black LGBTQ faith leaders and activists in Houston. Gathered around a glass coffee table, Buttigieg opened up to the group of a dozen about his record with African Americans as mayor … — an area that has generated some criticism — as well as his agenda for black voters.” POLITICO

-- Per his financial disclosure, Buttigieg received a $75,000 advance for his book, “Shortest Way Home.” (hat tip: Dave Levinthal)

-- CHRIS CADELAGO: “Kamala Harris escalates gun control agenda”: “At a presidential campaign event Wednesday in New Hampshire, Harris will pledge to take executive action banning the importation of AR-15-style assault weapons — a move that comes just three weeks after the California Democrat rolled out her sweeping gun-control proposal. … [W]hile [Cory] Booker is largely focused on gun-control priorities that require congressional approval, Harris' unilateral approach is based on years of inaction in Washington amid repeated high-profile mass shootings.” POLITICO

-- ELIZABETH WARREN: “Our military can help lead the fight in combating climate change”

-- NATASHA KORECKI and MARC CAPUTO: “‘Slow and steady’ strategy pays off for Biden”: “As his opponents in a sprawling primary field scramble to build their early state profiles, the Biden campaign is taking a different, more deliberate approach. The number of events per day are limited. The size of the venues are modest. Careful attention has been paid to his exposure to the press, with a slow ramp up of his availability to the media over time. …

“By dictating his own tempo and setting his own terms of engagement, Biden has only underscored his stature as a party eminence — and subtly reinforced his status as the field’s front-runner.” POLITICO

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- HUFFPOST’S JEFFREY YOUNG: “According to a report released Wednesday by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes government transparency, the Trump administration has removed references to the [Affordable Care Act] from Health and Human Services websites at least 26 times since Trump took office in January 2017.” HuffPost … The report

HEADS UP -- “U.S. Births Fall to Lowest Rates Since 1980s,” by WSJ’s Anthony DeBarros and Janet Adamy: “Many demographers believed that births would rebound as the economy recovered, but that trend hasn’t materialized. … A fertility rate falling farther below replacement level [of 2.1] means that, without enough immigrants, the U.S. could see population declines and a workforce too small to support a growing segment of retirees. Last year, it fell to 1.7, a record low.” WSJ

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MEDIAWATCH -- FIRST PERSON: “Why We Spent 7 Years Documenting Syria’s Secret Torture Prisons,” by NYT’s Anne Barnard

-- VANITY FAIR’S PETER HAMBY: “How the media fell out of love with Beto O’Rourke”

SPOTTED separately at Cafe Milano on Tuesday night: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Bret Baier.

OUT AND ABOUT -- SPOTTED at a book party Tuesday night hosted by Jim DeMint for conservative author David Roberts, celebrating the launch of Roberts’ new book “Death of Liberty” ($17.07 on Amazon), at DeMint’s Conservative Partnership Institute in D.C.: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Jeff Sessions, Corey Lewandowski, Steve Moore, Ken Cuccinelli, Morton Blackwell, Al Regnery and Greg Mueller.

TRANSITION -- Sean Kennedy is joining the National Restaurant Association as EVP of public affairs. He most recently was SVP for global government affairs at Airlines for America and is an Obama White House alum.

ENGAGED -- Hunter Bedford, a director of public affairs at Plus Communications, proposed to Ann Tumolo, communications director for Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio). Pool report: “They got engaged in a park near their favorite D.C. brewery, Bluejacket, with both of their parents present.” Pic … Another pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Johanna Treeck, European economics correspondent for POLITICO Europe, and Sakari Suoninen, a communications officer at the European Central Bank, welcomed Elise Anu. Pic

-- Juergen Baetz, an AP alum who will be a correspondent for DPA in D.C. in July, and Anesu Tongoona welcomed Malia. Pic ... Another pic

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