| | | | | A participant dressed as President Trump takes part in the annual New Year's Day "Loony Dook" swim in South Queensferry, Scotland, on Tuesday. Credit: Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images | | | Suck It Up, D.C.: But not with plastic
Romney Takes Mantle of Top Repub Trump Critic: And the RNC chair, who also happens to be his niece, calls it "unproductive"
Ye Ends Politic Fast: "Trump All Day" | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today will hold a Cabinet meeting. Later, he hosts Congressional Democrat leadership at the White House for a 3 p.m. meeting in the Situation Room.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Why the Situation Room? A space typically reserved for secret meetings about international incidents or crises? Then again, we are now in Day 12 of the government shutdown ...
Also, notable that new acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan is scheduled to attend the Cabinet meeting today at the White House.
Trump Facing Foes:
Under fire from old foes like Mitt Romney (see below in Hunter's section), and former Sen. Harry Reid, Trump has turned his solo White House holiday time into a theoretical bunker of sorts, firing Twitter missives at critics such as retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal. "'General' McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover!," Trump tweeted. The President also reserved heavy holiday fire for Democrats, especially Sen. Chuck Schumer, with whom Trump is also annoyed for blocking ambassador approvals.
Though he told the country to "JUST CALM DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE" in a New Year's Day tweet, it's clear Trump is feeling boxed in. Also, per our ace White House producer Allie Malloy, today ties the longest amount of time in office that Trump has gone without playing golf. Thirty-eight days! His last round was November 25th at Mar-a-Lago over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Will the Shutdown Showdown Continue, Even with 3pm Meeting?:
All signs say it's likely. The President invited congressional leaders to hash out the details and try to reach an agreement on the border funding situation, but it's unclear whether the outcome will result in a solution to the shutdown. Per our CNN story:
"Trump is expected to meet Wednesday with the eight top congressional leaders: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Republican Conference Chair John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, presumptive incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, incoming House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and incoming House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a congressional source familiar with the meeting told CNN."
Democrats officially take over control of the House tomorrow, and they're expected to hold a series of votes to re-open the government at that time -- or, at least attempt to. | | An Ailing Harry Reid Attacks:
From his Nevada home, Harry Reid did an interview with the New York Times' Mark Leibovich, where he gave this analysis of the President: "'Trump is an interesting person. He is not immoral but is amoral. Amoral is when you shoot someone in the head, it doesn't make a difference. No conscience.' There was a hint of grudging respect in Reid's tone, which he seemed to catch and correct. 'I think he is without question the worst president we've ever had,' he said. 'We've had some bad ones, and there's not even a close second to him.' He added: 'He'll lie. He'll cheat. You can't reason with him.'" While Reid was never one to hold back on negative opinions of people, he has not changed in the past two years out of Washington. But, as Leibovich so deftly writes, Reid might not have the time to shift his philosophies, even if he wanted to:
"Reid, who is 79, does not have long to live. I hate to be so abrupt about this, but Reid probably would not mind. In May, he went in for a colonoscopy, the results of which caused concern among his doctors. This led to an M.R.I. that turned up a lesion on Reid's pancreas: cancer. Reid's subdued and slightly cold manner, and aggressive anticharisma, have always made him an admirably blunt assessor of situations, including, now, his own: 'As soon as you discover you have something on your pancreas, you're dead.'"
Our Daily Melania:
Well, I'll be darned -- Melania Trump posted a holiday selfie. Yesterday marked the first time since Christmas of LAST YEAR that Melania shared a selfie, this time to celebrate the New Year. Now, I'm not saying they copied us, but me and my kid used the same Snapchat filter that Melania and Barron used ... coincidence?!? Probably, yeah. | | Credit: @FLOTUS/Twitter, @katebennett_DC/Twitter
Suck It Up, D.C.:
But not with plastic. Yesterday marked the first day the law banning plastic straws in D.C. went into effect. Restaurants have until July to make the transition, but it's time to start getting used to a paper straw world. I, for one, am struggling with this as I just don't like the taste and texture of the paper straws. Sorry, environment, but I don't.
Anderson Cooper Taking Shots is the Greatest:
So I was home alone on New Year's Eve, as I normally am, and I tuned into CNN to watch Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen host the NYE special -- and I witnessed perhaps the greatest television moments of 2018. Guys, I love Anderson for his journalistic skills and his smarts and his general awesomeness, but now I love him the most for the clear fact that he cannot do tequila shots. Please, watch the clips on my Twitter feed from that night. Anderson and Andy took shots at the top of each hour and they didn't really get any easier for AC, and that was a good thing, for me. Also, please note below that people have watched this clip I took more than 5 million times. You're welcome! | | Credit: @katebennett_DC/Twitter
Dress Like the First Lady:
Melania was on her own to host the annual Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve black-tie party, to which people paid as much as $1,000 per ticket. People who went told me she seemed relaxed and happy; she sat at the head table with her mother and father and Barron Trump, who wore a dapper tuxedo.
As for FLOTUS, she opted for a black, glittery Stella McCartney v-neck dress, on sale here for $1,440, marked down from $3,600. | | | Credit: @amandazungaro/Instagram, mytheresa.com | | What Washington is Talking About:
It's the last full day of the 115th Congress; Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser was sworn in for her second term this morning at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center; and Smithsonian museums that stayed open during the shutdown thanks to unused funds are closing their doors this week because the money's run out.
What America is Talking About:
Texas beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl; NASA captured images of Ultima Thule, a billion miles beyond Pluto, from its farthest flyby ever; and between the record-setting "Bird Box," the one-off "Black Mirror" episode "Bandersnatch," and the Taylor Swift concert film, I think Netflix won the holiday break, no?
Reminder:
Happy new year, rent is due.
Poll of the Day:
59% of Americans are optimistic about the employment rate in 2019, according to a Gallup poll that asked respondents their predictions about the new year.
December 2018, a Retrospective:
This year is going to be wild. Imagine the same level of news we had last year, plus a Democratic House flexing its oversight muscles and the beginnings of a Democratic presidential primary heaped on top. Our December Notes App retrospective is the world the new Congress and presidential primary are entering into. A lot happened last month: | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
Romney Takes Mantle of Top Repub Trump Critic:
Congress will lose some of its most vocal Republican critics of President Trump tomorrow. In Tennessee, Bob Corker is being replaced by pro-Trump Marsha Blackburn, and in Arizona, Jeff Flake is being replaced by Democrat Kyrsten Sinema while John McCain's seat is going to Martha McSally, who tacked to the right for her primary and is up for re-election in two years, so she may be much less ~mavericky~ than someone with a full six-year term ahead of them.
Enter Sen.-elect Mitt Romney, who wrote an op-ed that appeared in today's Washington Post arguing that Trump's conduct, particularly in December, "is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office" (he also said Trump was right to support criminal justice reform, among other things; has Kim Kardashian's pet policy initiative effectively reset the Republican Party's criminal justice stance?) The response online to Romney's piece has basically been unimpressed, with people expecting Flake 2.0: all talk, no action. Romney's niece, RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, called it "disappointing and unproductive." Romney will be on "The Lead with Jake Tapper" today at 4 p.m. ET, tune in.
Ye Ends Politics Fast:
Kanye West said back in October he was done weighing in on politics and that he was being used to spread messages he didn't believe in, but new year, new Ye, I guess. West posted tweets Tuesday including "Trump all day," "Blacks are 90% Democrats That sounds like control to me 🤔," and "From now on I'm performing with my mother***ing hat on 🐉🐉🐉." Side note: Kim and Kanye are expecting their fourth child.
Warren is our First Look at 2020 Campaign Design:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced Monday she's forming an exploratory committee ahead of an expected presidential run. We don't have a campaign logo yet, but her new website gives us our first look at 2020 campaign design and branding: | | Credit: elizabethwarren.com
The primary font used on Warren's site is Ringside, in Compressed Bold and Extra Wide Black. Ringside is a sans serif font with many different styles, "designed for diversity instead of homogeneity," per the firm Hoefler&Co. And rather than the standard red, white, and "Obama blue" that many Democrats have used in recent years, Warren went with a dark purple, seafoam green, and deep red for accent.
Street Art Sighting:
I got to speak with Brendan Keyes' classes at Gilbert High School in Arizona before the semester ended in December. I talked to them about what it's like working in journalism, we played the Caucus Game and they told me where they get their news and what they don't trust about the media. Mr. Keyes was my government teacher back in the day, and as I told one of his classes, he taught us to be independent-minded, a trait that's come in handy as a journalist. Thanks for having me and shout-out to everyone in class who signed up for Cover/Line. Welcome!
The GHS Art Department has painted some murals in the hallways since I graduated, including this one outside Mr. Keyes' classroom of George Washington that I thought was so dope: | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
Tag or DM me your political street art sightings @hunterschwarz on Twitter or Instagram, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com. | | | | | | |
