POLITICO Playbook PM: Trump: Kim ‘does not want to disappoint me’ Presented by Amazon

President Donald Trump tweeted that he still believes in Kim Jong Un. | Handout/Dong-A Ilbo via Getty Images

SCOOP -- HALLEY TOOSI and ELIANA JOHNSON: “Top State Department adviser fired over ‘abusive’ management style”: “Kiron Skinner, the director of Policy Planning, was told Thursday that she was being dismissed, a Trump administration official said. A senior State Department official also confirmed the firing, saying that several members of Skinner’s staff had threatened to quit if she wasn’t removed.

“Two other State Department officials said Skinner acted unprofessionally in multiple ways, including yelling in public spaces and using homophobic language. She retaliated against employees by kicking them out of their offices and even alleged that some people were having affairs, the two officials said. ‘It was an abuse of authority,’ one of them said. …

“One of the few prominent African American members of the Trump administration before leaving this week, Skinner is close to a number of conservative luminaries, such as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She hails from an academic background, and was brought in to help the State Department think in long-term, strategic ways about foreign policy. But she’s also long had a reputation for having sharp elbows — many of her past associates, especially in academia, flat out refuse to talk about her.” POLITICO

LATEST JOBS REPORT -- “U.S. Added 164,000 Jobs in July; Unemployment Rate at 3.7 Percent,” by NYT’s Patricia Cohen: “Just two days after the Federal Reserve moved to ward off economic snags by paring interest rates, the monthly jobs report signals that the labor market is maintaining its energy during a record-long hiring streak.

“While last month’s payroll additions did not match gains in June, July’s numbers show that employers continue to make room for new job seekers. … The report reinforces the Fed’s stance that the economy’s underpinnings remain strong, even though it is unlikely to temper the push for further rate cuts from investors and President Trump.” NYT

Happy Friday afternoon. National Economic Council Director LARRY KUDLOW told reporters this morning that the president’s announcement this afternoon on EU trade will have to do with a beef exports agreement.

SPOTTED: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on a 10 a.m. flight from DCA to Louisville today. Pic … Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) and his wife on American Airlines flight 4591 from DCA to Burlington this morning, sitting in the first row of coach and reading the WaPo Weekend section. Pic

THE WHITE HOUSE said TRUMP spoke on the phone with British PM BORIS JOHNSON on Thursday about trade, 5G and global security, per pooler Sabrina Siddiqui of The Guardian.

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HMM -- @realDonaldTrump at 7:58 a.m.: “Really bad news! The Baltimore house of Elijah Cummings was robbed. Too bad!”

-- MORE FROM TRUMP at 11:05 a.m.: “Kim Jong Un and North Korea tested 3 short range missiles over the last number of days. These missiles tests are not a violation of our signed Singapore agreement, nor was there discussion of short range missiles when we shook hands. There may be a United Nations violation, but..

… “.....Chairman Kim does not want to disappoint me with a violation of trust, there is far too much for North Korea to gain - the potential as a Country, under Kim Jong Un’s leadership, is unlimited. Also, there is far too much to lose. I may be wrong, but I believe that......

… “....Chariman Kim has a great and beautiful vision for his country, and only the United States, with me as President, can make that vision come true. He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!”

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ELAINA PLOTT DISPATCH from Cincinnati -- THE ATLANTIC: “‘We’re All Tired of Being Called Racists’”: “Trump supporters in Cincinnati were eager to defend their man. … As speakers mounted their defenses of the president, it seemed apparent that supporters were cheering them on as a means of affirming not just Trump, but also themselves. Because to accuse a politician of holding virulent racist beliefs is also, if only implicitly, to condemn his or her voters of harboring those same tendencies.

“And that’s what the rally-goers I spoke to last night seemed most nonplussed by—not so much that Trump had been roundly condemned in recent days as a racist, or a bigot, but that they, by virtue of association, had been as well. But rather than distancing them from Trump, the accusations have only seemed to strengthen their support of this president. To back down, they suggested, would be to bow down to the scourge of political correctness.” The Atlantic

HEADS UP -- “White House Asks for List of Top Spies During Intelligence Shakeup,” by The Daily Beast’s Betsy Woodruff and Erin Banco: “The White House recently asked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for a list of all its employees at the federal government’s top pay scale who have worked there for 90 days or more … The request appears to be part of the White House’s search for a temporary director of national intelligence—a prospect that raises concerns in some quarters about political influence over the Intelligence Community. …

“According to federal law, ODNI’s senate-confirmed second-in-command—the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, currently Sue Gordon—steps in if the DNI departs. Gordon, who has spent decades in the Intelligence Community, is revered there and on Capitol Hill. But as a career intelligence official, she isn’t viewed as Team MAGA. And the White House is reportedly eyeing ways to put someone they trust in the top role after [Dan] Coats departs. … But while questions swirl about her future, Gordon hasn’t stepped down.” Daily Beast

ON RUSSIA -- WESLEY MORGAN: “Demise of U.S-Russia missile treaty sparks concerns of domino effect”: “The departure of the U.S. from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia on Friday set off concerns that broader efforts to stem nuclear weapons are now at greater risk of collapsing …

“It’s unclear what exactly the U.S. and its NATO allies will do now that there is little hope the Russians will return to compliance. … Indeed, plans for the Pentagon to respond with a new missile of its own remain in flux. Congress has deep disagreements about whether to back Pentagon proposals to develop new medium-range missiles.” POLITICO

DIRE STRAITS OF HORMUZ -- HALLEY TOOSI: “Trump’s coalition of one”: “[S]o far, Donald Trump’s coalition to protect oil tankers from alleged Iranian aggression appears to have just one member — the United States. The British have demurred, the French are noncommittal and the Germans on Wednesday flat out said no. They’re all still smarting from the president’s exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which they say is partly responsible for Tehran’s suspected bellicose behavior. They’re also worried that aligning with the U.S. on such an initiative could drag them into a war with Iran. …

“Pentagon officials insist some countries have already signed up for what the U.S. is calling Operation Sentinel, but they would not say how many. More than 60 countries have been invited to join.” POLITICO

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- NYT’S JANE PERLEZ in Beijing: “As Domestic Troubles Mount, China Points Finger at U.S.”: “Pointed hostility toward America, voiced by Chinese officials and state-run news organizations under the control of an all-powerful propaganda department, has escalated in recent weeks in tandem with two of China’s big problems: a slowing economy complicated by trade tensions and turbulence in Hong Kong that has no end in sight. …

“Now, a dramatic singling out of the United States as a bad actor is setting a new anti-American tone for a domestic audience that is worried about jobs and sees Hong Kong as an island of ungrateful citizens. This is deliberate on the part of the Chinese government, analysts said.” NYT

-- MEANWHILE … “Tariff Fight Costs China Spot as Top U.S. Trading Partner,” by WSJ’s Paul Kiernan and Anthony DeBarros: “U.S. imports from China fell 12% in the first six months of 2019 from a year earlier, while exports fell 19%, the Commerce Department said Friday in a monthly trade report. The total value of bilateral goods trade with China, $271.04 billion in the first half of the year, fell short of that with both Canada and Mexico for the first time since 2005. Mexico is now the U.S.’s top trading partner.” WSJ

-- REALITY CHECK -- WSJ’S YOKO KUBOTA and CHAO DENG in Beijing: “China Faces Limited Options for Retaliating Against Latest U.S. Threat”

CLICKER -- “Detailed Maps of the Donors Powering the 2020 Democratic Campaigns,” by NYT’s Josh Katz, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Rachel Shorey and Thomas Kaplan: “Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has a huge lead over other Democratic presidential candidates in the number of individual donors they have each accumulated so far.

“This is the first time since the primary race began in earnest that we can estimate how many individual donors each candidate has attracted — a key indicator of how much they are catching on with voters.” NYT

THE POLICY PRIMARY -- ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN: “Warren has lots of plans. But not on health care”: “Democratic advocates and political strategists suggested there’s little upside to [Elizabeth] Warren offering her own plan right now as she and [Bernie] Sanders — who have sought to avoid attacking one another — chase a similar set of progressive voters. By aligning with Sanders, she can fight for a progressive priority without boxing herself in with a prescriptive plan that’s unlikely to differ much from the one he’s written.

“But they say Warren will need to strike a delicate balance as the field of candidates winnows — appealing to progressives by championing single-payer health care while still presenting a clear enough alternative to Sanders.” POLITICO

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MEGATREND -- “U.S. Drug Epidemic Becoming More Urban,” by WSJ’s Betsy McKay and Jon Kamp: “For years, death rates from drug overdoses rose faster in rural America, as supply chains of opioids and other drugs expanded and abuse took off. But urban overdose death rates overtook those of rural counties in 2016 … The findings reflect the effects of bootleg synthetic opioids such as fentanyl on a large, older cohort of longtime drug users in urban areas, some experts said.” WSJ

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK -- Brian Blase is joining Texas Public Policy Foundation as a senior fellow for Right on Healthcare. He most recently was a special assistant to the president.

MEDIAWATCH -- Paul Demko will be editor of a new POLITICO Pro cannabis vertical. He is currently a POLITICO Pro health care reporter. Natalie Fertig will be a cannabis beat reporter. She has recently covered cannabis policy for several outlets and previously worked for Circa and McClatchy.

TV TONIGHT -- Bob Costa will sit down with NBC’s Hallie Jackson, WaPo’s Dan Balz, WSJ’s Tarini Parti and Bloomberg Businessweek’s Joshua Green at 8 p.m. on PBS’ “Washington Week.”

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