Today in Trumpworld -- June 12

TRUMP’S SCHEDULE:

9:30 a.m.: President Donald Trump will receive a National Security Council briefing in the Situation Room.


11 a.m.: Trump will lead a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room.

12:30 p.m.: Trump will have lunch with Vice President Mike Pence in the presidential dining room.

3 p.m.: Trump will welcome the 2016 NCAA Football National Champion Clemson Tigers to the White House on the South Lawn.

OTHER HAPPENINGS: Press secretary Sean Spicer will brief the press at the White House on camera at 1:30 p.m.

TRUMP IS SUED OVER BUSINESS TIES: From the Washington Post’s Aaron C. Davis: “Attorneys general for the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland say they will sue President Trump on Monday, alleging that he has violated anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution by accepting millions in payments and benefits from foreign governments since moving into the White House. The lawsuit, the first of its kind brought by government entities, centers on the fact that Trump chose to retain ownership of his company when he became president. Trump said in January that he was shifting his business assets into a trust managed by his sons to eliminate potential conflicts of interests. But D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) and Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) say Trump has broken many promises to keep separate his public duties and private business interests. For one, his son Eric Trump has said the president would continue to receive regular updates about his company’s financial health.”

REINCE WATCH: From POLITICO’s Tara Palmeri: “President Donald Trump has set a deadline of July 4 for a shakeup of the White House that could include removing Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, according to two administration officials and three outside advisers familiar with the matter. While Trump has set deadlines for staff changes before, only to let them pass without pulling the trigger, the president is under more scrutiny than ever regarding the sprawling Russia investigation, which is intensifying the pressure on his White House team. Days after his return from his first foreign trip late last month, Trump berated Priebus in the Oval Office in front of his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and deputy campaign manager David Bossie for the dysfunction in the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the conversation. Trump had been mulling bringing on Bossie as his deputy White House chief of staff and Lewandowski as a White House senior adviser with a portfolio that includes Russia, but told the two at that meeting that they would not be joining the White House until Priebus had a fair chance to clean up shop, according to the sources. ‘I'm giving you until July 4,’ Trump said, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation.”

TRUMP’S LONELY ATTACKS ON COMEY: From POLITICO’s Matthew Nussbaum: “President Donald Trump considers himself his own best surrogate. He’s also his most strident spokesman. Probes into possible ties between Trump’s associates and Russia during the 2016 campaign have led the White House to pull officials back from publicly defending the president on the topic. Republican lawmakers, in recent comments about James Comey’s allegation that the president urged him to consider dropping an investigation into a top aide, seemed to accept the fired FBI director’s version of events over the president’s. The resulting shortage of public Trump defenders has amplified the Republican leader’s own justifications of his actions, which tend to be more brash and distracting than his attorneys – and members of his party hoping to spotlight their legislative aims – might prefer.”

TRUMP’S LAWYER: From the New York Times’ Rebecca R. Ruiz and Sharon LaFraniere: “A new figure has swept through the West Wing lately, a man with silver hair combed back across his head, rimless glasses perched on his nose, a white handkerchief tucked neatly into his suit pocket, a taste for legal pugilism and an uncertain role in a building confronted by a host of political and legal threats. Marc E. Kasowitz, a New York civil litigator who represented President Trump for 15 years in business and boasts of being called the toughest lawyer on Wall Street, has suddenly become the field marshal for a White House under siege. He is a personal lawyer for the president, not a government employee, but he has been talking about establishing an office in the White House complex where he can run his legal defense. His visits to the White House have raised questions about the blurry line between public and private interests for a president facing legal issues. In recent days, Mr. Kasowitz has advised White House aides to discuss the inquiry into Russia’s interference in last year’s election as little as possible, two people involved said. He told aides gathered in one meeting who had asked whether it was time to hire private lawyers that it was not yet necessary, according to another person with direct knowledge.”

FIRST FAMILY UPDATE: From POLITICO’s Louis Nelson: “First lady Melania Trump and her son, Barron Trump, officially moved into the White House Sunday, reuniting the first family full time in Washington five months after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Sunday’s announcement that the first family had officially moved into the White House came via Twitter from Melania Trump, who posted a picture of the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial from inside the White House along with the message ‘looking forward to the memories we'll make in our new home! #Movingday.’”





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