| | | | | President Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet French President Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron on the North Portico before the State Dinner Tuesday. Credit: Alex Edelman/Pool via Bloomberg | | | This is the Best Non-Melania State Dinner Story: Former WH national security aide got to be a line cook
US Falls in 2018 World Press Freedom Ranking: The United States is now ranked No. 45
Kourtney Takes Kongress: The Kardashian's briefing isn't on C-SPAN, but it looks like it'll be on KUWTK | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today has a light public schedule. This afternoon he has a meeting with Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
The vetting, or lack thereof, of Dr. Ronny Jackson. It feels like another poorly handled episode by the Trump White House -- not the original vetting, which wasn't this White House's responsibility, but a cursory look into Jackson prior to Trump putting him up for the Veterans Affairs job.
Sarah Sanders is scheduled to do the briefing at 2 p.m.
"The Candy Man":
The stories coming out about White House physician/Veterans' Affairs chief hopeful Dr. Ronny Jackson are... not good. Last night on "Anderson Cooper," Sen. Jon Tester, who chairs the Veterans' Affairs Committee, said 20 people have come forward to raise concerns about Jackson, specifically that he overprescribed pills; he was apparently known as "the candy man" inside the White House. Said Tester, "Jackson would go down the aisle-way of the airplane [on long trips] and say, 'All right, who wants to go to sleep?' And hand out the prescription drugs like they were candy ... and put them to sleep and then give them the drugs to wake them back up again."
This morning, Juana Summers and Manu Raju reported a story about Jackson on a 2015 official trip, wherein he got intoxicated and began banging on the hotel door of a female subordinate in the middle of the night.
Meanwhile, Trump apparently plans to stand beside Jackson, who has not yet withdrawn his bid to head the VA. The President yesterday called Jackson a "high-quality man."
Our Daily Melania:
Be honest. You're still talking about the hat, amirite? As I said a bunch on TV in the past 24 hours, I fully believe Melania Trump wore that hat not just to look fabulous, but to steal the spotlight away from Trump, whether intentionally or not. The hat was custom made by her friend and stylist, Hervé Pierre, which means it had been in the works for some time and was not any sort of last-minute decision. Also, if you think Melania doesn't have an impact on the business of fashion -- the white Michael Kors Collection jacket she wore with that hat is almost sold out everywhere. | | Credit: net-a-porter.com
Melania continued to lead the discussion yesterday into the evening, when she emerged from the White House north doors wearing a Chanel haute couture gown of silver, with beading, Chantilly lace and hand-painted details (I was first to report the dress designer!), with Christian Louboutin shoes. It was major. Betsy Klein and I wrote a solid wrap to the first lady's major past few days -- read it here, please. The dinner appeared from the outside to go off without a hitch, and I'm hearing the same from those in the White House. This was a Melania tour de force, and one even the President acknowledged this morning with a complimentary tweet.
Back to that dress (which accompanied some FLAWLESS makeup from Melania's longtime makeup artist Nicole Bryl), some people weren't as into the Chanel as they were the white daytime look, but I thought it was pretty great. On the runway, see below, there was a jumpsuit version -- now, that would have been the most major ever. | | Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images, Dominique Charriau/Getty Images
🚨 THIS IS THE BEST NON-MELANIA STATE DINNER STORY:
Make time for this incredible story about former White House national security aide Michael Anton, who fulfilled his dream of helping prep a State Dinner, from the kitchen. Anton, who resigned on April 8 -- one day before new national security adviser John Bolton was to start his job -- had one request at his departure, writes the New York Times' Mark Landler: "As he packed up his office the next day, he made a special request of the current chief of staff, John F. Kelly: that he be allowed to come back for a day to work as a line cook in the White House kitchen, helping to prepare Mr. Trump's state dinner for President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte."
So, last night, he did just that. Anton has a passion for cooking and is a trained chef -- he is also, like me, a graduate of St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, although he went there for a graduate degree and I was there as an undergrad. Here's a great Doug Mills shot of Anton in the kitchen last night: | | Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times
Spicy Book Times:
Sean Spicer debuted the cover of his upcoming (July) book, "The Briefing," on his Instagram today. | | Credit: @seanspicer/Instagram
Dress Like the First Daughter:
I know you're going to @ me, but I LOVED Ivanka Trump's look last night, and if you read me here a lot, you know I don't often agree with her sartorial choices. But I loved everything about the frothy pink, polka-dotted gown with floral appliqué she wore last night, and the red lipstick was perfect and modern and polished. Interestingly, the dress was a Rodarte, available here for (a whopping) $12,888, which is a sort of quirky, eccentric line out of Los Angeles, favored by indie film actresses like Dakota Fanning and Kirsten Dunst. | | | Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Images, matchesfashion.com | | What Washington is Talking About:
Repubs today returned to the Alexandria baseball field that was the site of the 2017 shooting and they held a practice ("It's very mixed emotions," Rep. Mo Brooks told CNN this morning), and French President Emmanuel Macron addressed a joint meeting of Congress, calling fake news a "virus," defending the Iran Deal, and saying "there is no planet B."
What America is Talking About:
The 13 semi-trailer trucks that parked under an overpass outside Detroit after a man stood on it and threatened to jump. Law enforcement was able to get the man to move off the overpass after about three hours.
Poll of the Day:
Half of Americans approve of the US airstrikes against Syria last week, while 43% disapprove, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday. That's similar to how Americans felt about the 2017 strikes against Syria. | | Credit: Gallup
US Falls in 2018 World Press Freedom Ranking:
The report, compiled by Reporters Without Borders, found the US has fallen from 43rd place to 45th in a year. The reason, authors wrote, is Trump's attacks on the press, including calling them an "enemy of the American people" and the use of the term "fake news," as well as journalists being physically assaulted, or risking arrest to cover protests or asking public officials questions. The authors added:
"The US' decline in press freedom is not simply bad news for journalists working inside the country; the downward trend has drastic consequences at the international level."Fake news" is now a trademark excuse for media repression, in both democratic and authoritarian regimes."
See the full list here. North Korea came in dead last on the list of 180 countries, and Norway is No. 1. Here's the top ten: | | Credit: Reporters Without Borders via Politico
J-Kush is Trying to Make Prison Reform Fit in the Trump Agenda:
Prison reform isn't a particular focus for Trump, but his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner wrote an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal attempting to tie it into the Trump agenda. J-Kush called stats about America's prison population "startling" and wrote that Trump's promise "to fight for the forgotten men and women of this country" includes prisoners.
Manafort Was Interviewed by the FBI Even Before He Joined Trump:
Years before Paul Manafort became the Trump campaign chair, he was a consultant for a Ukrainian political party and was interviewed twice by the FBI, in 2013 and 2014, the Washington Post reports.
Meek Mill Released From Prison:
The rapper was released from prison yesterday after almost five months for violating probation on a 2008 case. He went to the '76ers game for his first night out, and rang a replica Liberty Bell on the court, which has been decked out with that Gadsden flag logo featured in the April 6 issue of COVER/LINE. | | Credit: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
Mill tweeted that he was "grateful" to the Philadelphia District Attorney's office for its "commitment to justice" and added, "I understand that many people of color across the country don't have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues."
Kourtney Takes Kongress:
You can't watch Kourtney Kardashian's briefing yesterday with lawmakers on reforming cosmetic industry regulations on C-SPAN, but it seems you'll be able to watch it on an upcoming episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." Attendees at the closed briefing with the eldest Kardashian daughter had to sign a release to appear on the show, per Daily Mail. | | Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Kris Jenner Denies Kanye Drama:
A People story published yesterday claimed Kanye West's public re-emergence on Twitter comes as he's also cut out members of his inner circle and gotten in fights with Kris Jenner. Jenner denied the report on Twitter, tweeting "Lies, lies, lies." West tweeted this morning that he's gotten rid of his manager because he can't be managed. We've now reached a point where Calabasas drama is starting to feel like White House drama. I can't.
Street Art Sighting:
This "Kanye 2024" poster using Trump's planned 2020 slogan, "Keep America Great," was sent in by Raelee Kelley in Chicago in front of Trump's building there. Similar posters also went up in Los Angeles and New York. Kanye himself tweeted some photos of the poster, but has since deleted them. He's also tweeted the year "2024," said he'll rename Air Force One the Yeezy Force One, and said Trump is his brother and he loves him, but noted he also loves Hillary Clinton and he doesn't "agree with everything anyone does." | | Credit: Raelee Kelley
If you spot political street art, tweet me @hunterschwarz, tag me on Instagram @hunterschwarz, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com with your sighting so I can feature it in COVER/LINE.
P.S.:
Drake has now surpassed Bruno Mars for the record for most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by a male artist this decade. He's spent 33 weeks at the top, including the past 13 for his two consecutive chart toppers "God's Plan" and "Nice For What." | | | | | | |
