POLITICO Playbook: Trump: ‘We already have a lot of background checks’ Presented by Amazon

President Donald Trump’s latest comments certainly seem like he is backing away from background checks, and is settling into the old GOP position of bolstering mental health protections. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images

DRIVING THE DAY

IF YOU ARE SOMEONE who is looking forward to Congress coming back into session and passing gun control, take a look at what President DONALD TRUMP said Sunday before leaving New Jersey.

QUESTION: “But you’re not willing to support universal background checks right now?”

TRUMP: “I’m not saying anything. I’m saying Congress is going to be reporting back to me with ideas. And they’ll come in from Democrats and Republicans. And I’ll look at it very strongly. But just remember, we already have a lot of background checks. OK? Thank you.”

-- EARLIER IN THE GAGGLE, Trump said this: “They have bipartisan committees working on background checks and various other things. And we’ll see. I don’t want people to forget that this is a mental health problem. I don’t want them to forget that, because it is. It’s a mental health problem.”

JUST LIKE WE SAID: The president has trouble holding a position for more than a few days. This certainly seems like the president is backing away from background checks, and is settling into the old GOP position of bolstering mental health protections.

INSIDE THE PRESIDENT’S MIND …

-- NYT’S MAGGIE HABERMAN’S WHITE HOUSE MEMO on A14: “In Economic Warning Signals, Trump Sees Signs of a Conspiracy”: “President Trump, confronting perhaps the most ominous economic signs of his time in office, has unleashed what is by now a familiar response: lashing out at what he believes is a conspiracy of forces arrayed against him.

“He has insisted that his own handpicked Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, is intentionally acting against him. He has said other countries, including allies, are working to hurt American economic interests. And he has accused the news media of trying to create a recession.

“Mr. Trump has repeated the claims in private discussions with aides and allies, insisting that his critics are trying to take away what he sees as his calling card for re-election. Mr. Trump has been agitated in discussions of the economy, and by the news media’s reporting of warnings of a possible recession. He has said forces that do not want him to win have been overstating the damage his trade war has caused, according to people who have spoken with him. And several aides agree with him that the news media is overplaying the economic fears, adding to his feeling of being justified, people close to the president said.” NYT

WSJ’S NICK TIMIRAOS: “Fed Chief Wedged Between a Slowing Economy and an Angry President”: “Jerome Powell is entering the most perilous stage yet of his tenure as Federal Reserve chairman, fighting to keep the U.S. from recession while taking the blame from President Trump for skittish markets and a slowing economy.

“Mr. Trump’s unyielding criticism of the Fed has led people inside the central bank to feel like they are fighting to both buoy the U.S. economy and preserve the Fed’s independence from political interference.

“After cutting short-term interest rates in July, Mr. Powell is navigating the Fed toward more rate reductions, though conditions could change. The debate among his Fed colleagues is how much to move rates and when as well as how to best frame the decision, which will be scrutinized by markets and the White House.” WSJ

Good Monday morning.

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THE DAILY BEAST: “Disgraced Pundit Mark Halperin’s Accusers Call New Book Deal a ‘Slap in the Face,’” by Justin Baragona, Audrey McNamara and Maxwell Tani: “Reached by phone, Eleanor McManus, cofounder of Trident DMG, who came forward with her own story about Halperin in 2017, said the book deal comes before an apology to his alleged victims.

“‘He leveraged his position as a prominent journalist to prey on women. He has yet to take responsibility for his actions by apologizing to his victims or demonstrating genuine contrition,’ McManus said in a statement to The Daily Beast. ‘Giving him a book once again puts him in a position of authority and that is a slap in the face to all the women that he has victimized.’” Daily Beast

-- CNN’S OLIVER DARCY: “Backlash to Mark Halperin’s book deal”

THE NEW YORKER’S SUSAN GLASSER: “How Mike Pompeo Became a Heartland Evangelical—and the President’s Most Loyal Soldier”

SPOTTED: Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue waiting for a delayed flight from DCA to Chicago. Pic … Jeff Bezos walking through the Dupont Circle farmers market Sunday morning, wearing a “JB” hat. Pic

AP/COPENHAGEN: “Denmark’s prime minister says U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea of buying Greenland from Denmark is ‘an absurd discussion,’ reiterating that the semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic is not for sale.” AP

-- WSJ’S JASON DOUGLAS in Nuuk, Greenland: “Greenlanders Baffled by Trump Interest”: “‘People I know say ‘no thanks,’’ said Helene Elisasen, as she threaded fishing lines with bait in the harbor to catch halibut at sea. … The abundant resources mean any buyer for Greenland would struggle to make a fair offer for the country, said Pavia Zeeb, a fisherman. ‘It’s too expensive,’ he said. …

“Maya Sialuk practices traditional Inuit tattooing, an ancient art her ancestors used to ward off illness and seek good fortune when hunting and fishing. She described the idea of the U.S. buying Greenland as insensitive and rude. ‘We are still trying to recover from a colonization period of almost 300 years,’ she said. ‘Then there is this white dude in the States who’s talking about purchasing us.’ …

“Múte Bourup Egede, leader of the left-wing, pro-independence Inuit Ataqatigiit party in Greenland’s parliament, said such strategic games—and Mr. Trump’s icebound fantasy—serve to remind Greenlanders of their country’s outsize importance in world affairs. ‘America will always have an interest in Greenland,’ said Mr. Egede, cradling a Bernie Sanders 2016 coffee mug. ‘Our country will always be ours.’” WSJ

TRADE WAR IMPACT … L.A. TIMES: “The latest casualty of Trump’s trade war with China? California wine,” by Margot Roosevelt in Healdsburg, Calif.: “[U].S. wine exports to China were down by 33% in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2017. As the trade conflict drags on, ‘Chinese importers will buy from a different country,’ [Honore Comfort, vice president for international marketing at the Wine Institute,] predicted. ‘We’ve worked on building those relationships for two decades. Now all of that time is basically a loss.’” LAT

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2020 WATCH …

-- CARLA MARINUCCI in San Francisco: “Biden to skip DNC meeting in San Francisco where 13 candidates are expected”: “Hundreds of DNC delegates will be here next weekend for a three-day gathering that gives them a chance to meet and hear from 13 presidential contenders — though former Vice President Joe Biden, the party's front-runner, isn't scheduled to be among the candidates.

“Biden also bypassed the last big party meeting in San Francisco — the convention of the California Democratic Party, the nation's largest state party, which drew more than 4,000 people in June.” POLITICO

-- QUOTE DU JOUR ... TED KAUFMAN on JOE BIDEN: “He is the unluckiest person I’ve ever known personally, and he is the luckiest person I’ve ever known personally.” AP

-- BRUTAL HOMETOWN PRESS … THE BOSTON GLOBE’S ADRIAN WALKER: “Seth Moulton’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad summer vacation”: “Seth Moulton has been a busy man.

“The North Shore congressman has been crisscrossing the early presidential-primary states like any of the viable candidates. Just last week, he hit Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, before heading to Weare, Exeter, and Hillsborough in New Hampshire. He ate corn dogs and ice cream.

“And America ignored him — as it has, resolutely, since he announced his candidacy in April. In poll after poll after poll, Moulton has registered at zero percent. Yes, zero. The same number your dog or cat would poll. Yet the Harvard-educated US Marine Corps veteran soldiers on. He has not approached any of the benchmarks for getting onto the overcrowded Democratic debate stage.” Boston Globe

-- WAPO’S ANNIE LINSKEY in Columbia, S.C.: “Warren works to overcome hurdles with black voters in S.C.”: “But in South Carolina, Warren and her team appeared to be navigating the racial landscape more astutely than Sanders. Among the speakers warming up a crowd for her Saturday evening in Aiken, S.C., was Lessie Price, a local black leader and the first vice chair of the state’s Democratic Party. …

“[W]arren adjusted her rhetoric when she stepped up to the pulpit at a sparsely attended service at Reid Chapel AME Church on the other side of Columbia on Sunday morning. Rather than her usual firebrand stemwinder, she talked about her hardscrabble biography, including an anecdote about how she once struggled to control an unruly fifth-grade Sunday school class. …

“Warren was traveling with the Rev. Miniard Culpepper, the pastor at Boston’s Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church, whom she referred to as a ‘spiritual adviser.’ Culpepper said he has known Warren since she ran for Senate in 2012, and he said he’s not worried about the perception that she’s lacking black support. ‘They’ll be there,’ he said in a brief interview. ‘She’s just hitting her stride.’” WaPo

-- L.A. TIMES: “Slavery’s descendants say a reparations check won’t make the pain go away,” by Tyrone Beason in Charleston, S.C.

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THE PRESIDENT’S MONDAY … NOTHING on the president’s schedule, besides an 11:30 a.m. intelligence briefing.

PLAYBOOK READS

PHOTO DU JOUR: An Iranian-flagged supertanker sails Sunday in the waters of Gibraltar, which freed the ship from detention to set sail despite a U.S. request to the contrary. | Marcos Moreno/AP Photo

SCOOP -- “Trump cuts off one of his closest friends,” by Daniel Lippman: “Tom Barrack and Donald Trump have been friends and confidants for more than three decades — the two men are so close, for instance, that Barrack comforted Trump during the funeral of his father, Fred.

“But the intimate relationship between the wealthy California investor and the president has fractured so badly that the two no longer speak, current and former White House officials say.

“The key issue driving the two men apart: Barrack’s role as chairman of the president’s 2017 inauguration fund, which is under investigation by prosecutors.” POLITICO

CLICKER -- “A general, Newt Gingrich and Michael Jackson's publicist push cut-rate moon plan,” by Bryan Bender: “Newt Gingrich and an eclectic band of NASA skeptics are trying sell President Donald Trump on a reality show-style plan to jump-start the return of humans to the moon — at a fraction of the space agency’s estimated price tag.

“The proposal, whose other proponents range from a three-star Air Force general to the former publicist for pop stars Michael Jackson and Prince, envisions creating a $2 billion sweepstakes pitting billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and other space pioneers to see who can establish and run the first lunar base, according to a summary of the plan shared with POLITICO. ...

“Backers of the novel approach have briefed administration officials serving on the White House National Space Council, several members of the group confirmed, though they declined to provide specifics of the internal conversations.” POLITICO

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TRUMP’S SECRET VENEZUELA TALKS ... “U.S. talks secretly to Venezuela socialist boss,” by AP’s Joshua Goodman in Bogotá, Colombia: “The U.S. has opened up secret communications with Venezuela’s socialist party boss as members of President Nicolás Maduro’s inner circle seek guarantees they won’t face retribution if they cede to growing demands to remove him, a senior U.S. administration official has told The Associated Press.

“Diosdado Cabello, who is considered the most-powerful man in Venezuela after Maduro, met last month in Caracas with someone who is in close contact with the Trump administration, said the official. A second meeting is in the works but has not yet taken place.

“The AP is withholding the intermediary’s name and details of the encounter with Cabello out of concern the person could suffer reprisals. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to discuss the talks, which are still preliminary. It’s not clear whether the talks have Maduro’s approval or not.” AP

… AND HIS VENEZUELA OBSESSION … AXIOS’ JONATHAN SWAN: “President Trump has suggested to national security officials that the U.S. should station Navy ships along the Venezuelan coastline to prevent goods from coming in and out of the country, according to 5 current and former officials who have either directly heard the president discuss the idea or have been briefed on Trump's private comments.” Axios

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AP’S MATT LEE: “Trump wields sanctions hammer; experts wonder to what end”

SUNDAY’S HONG KONG PROTEST TURNOUT: 1.7 million

MEDIAWATCH -- TRUMP VS. FOX … POLITICO: “‘I’m not happy with it’: Trump hits Fox News over poll results” … The offending poll

PLAYBOOKERS

Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at [email protected].

IN MEMORIAM -- “Kathleen Blanco, a trailblazing Louisiana governor, dies after long cancer battle,” by The Advocate’s Tyler Bridges: “Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who became the first woman elected governor of Louisiana and then saw her political career derailed by the costliest hurricane to ever hit the United States, died Sunday from complications from ocular melanoma. She was 76. …

“During her first 20 months as governor, Blanco was a popular, can-do governor who was pro-business, pro-life, pro-guns and focused on improving the state’s education system. She seemed likely to cruise to re-election. But Katrina’s arrival on Aug. 29, 2005 changed everything. … Blanco always believed that her achievements as governor would be noted in time. She lived to see some of that reappraisal.” Advocate

TRANSITION -- Gaby Hurt is now a White House press assistant. She previously was a press assistant for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- Theresa Gilbert and John Cipriani, both Global Strategy Group VPs, got married in Stonington, Conn. They’ll celebrate their honeymoon in Australia. Pic … Another pic

-- Sara Nitz, senior manager for policy and advocacy at InterAction and a Karen Bass alum, married Charlie Nolan. Pic

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz and incoming president of Queens’ College, Cambridge. How he got his start in his career: “It certainly wasn’t expected, let alone part of a big plan. Instead, it was forced by a personal tragedy (my father’s sudden passing) that, through a subsequent series of good fortune, led to an incredibly fulfilling and stimulating career that has spanned both the public and private sectors.” Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: Former President Bill Clinton is 73 … Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) is 42 … Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) is 47 … Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is 55 … Mary Matalin … Tipper Gore … NYT’s Joe Kahn is 55 … Julius Genachowski, a managing director at the Carlyle Group, is 57 … WSJ’s Brody Mullins ... Tom Rogers, executive chairman at WinView Games and chairman and CEO of TRget Media … Scott Milburn ... Tabitha Soren ... POLITICO’s Michelle Bloom ... Rebecca McAlexander ... Haley Leonard … Daily Mail’s Emily Goodin ... Neil Grace, senior comms adviser at the FCC ... NYT columnist Farhad Manjoo ... Daily Caller co-founder and publisher Neil Patel, also co-founder and managing director of Bluebird Asset Management, is 5-0 ... Rob Damschen … Pat Jones, executive director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association … CBS’ Paula Reid ... Rachael Heisler … Adam Tomlinson … Dan Aloni … Arthur Rock … Marc Rowan … Trevor Daley …

… former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is 61 … Edelman’s Alison Armentrout … Adam Conner, VP of technology policy at the Center for American Progress, is 35 (h/t Brad Bauman) … Vox’s Madeline Marshall is 3-0 … Mark Seibel, WaPo technology policy editor ... Shannon Campagna, VP at Van Scoyoc Associates … Brett Icahn is 4-0 … Tish Wells … Elizabeth Bibi, manager of executive and policy comms at Oscar Health ... Rebecca Ayer … Kari Smith Gibson … Sara Durkin (h/t husband James Rosen) ... Andrew Vlasaty ... Missy Kurek … Facebook’s Eva Guidarini ... Kate Pomeroy ... Arlene Violet … Alan Pyke … Kevin Minoli … Chris Choi … Reid Rosenberg ... Leon Saffelle … Colin Kavanaugh … Trevor Foughty ... Maggie Cleary ... Jack Livingston ... Will McPherson … Carol Waller ... Jenna Mathis ... Will Craft … Shelby Knox … Matthew Beck ... photojournalist Ralph Alswang is 55 ... Scott Hogenson … Jillian Bandes … Shomik Dutta … Linda Chappetto Garcia ... John Sasso ... Lisa Guide (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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