memeorandum: Republicans Still Don't Have The Votes To Replace Obamacare (Matt Fuller/The Huffington Post)

1:55 PM ET, April 28, 2017

Top Items:

Trump admits he thought being president would be a lot easier than his old life — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — He misses driving, feels as if he is in a cocoon, and is surprised how hard his new job is. — President Donald Trump on Thursday reflected on his first 100 days …

Reuters:

Exclusive: Trump says ‘major, major’ conflict with North Korea possible, but seeks diplomacy — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday a major conflict with North Korea is possible in the standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to the dispute.

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Kasich: Trump should ‘eradicate’ North Korean leadership — Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a former Republican presidential candidate, said Friday that President Trump ought to “eradicate” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top lieutenants in a surgical military strike designed to give rise to a more benign leadership in Pyongyang.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Week

Yochi Dreazen / Vox:
After 100 days, Donald Trump's new world order looks like the old one

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, France 24, DCist, The Week and The Diplomat

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Trump now agrees with the majority of Americans: He wasn't ready to be president

Discussion: Shareblue, Patterico's Pontifications, Raw Story, Mashable and Political Wire

David Choi / Business Insider:
South Korea rebuffs Trump's $1 billion use-charge for a US missile-defense system

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, The Week, The Daily Caller, NPR, New York Magazine and Politico

Rachel Stockman / Mediaite:

EXCLUSIVE: Advanced Talks Underway For New Conservative Network Amid Fears Fox News Moving Too Far Left — On the heels of major shakeups at the Fox News Network, an alternative conservative network is being actively discussed amongst conservative fat cats.

Discussion: The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Axios, The Week, New York Times, RedState, BizPac Review, Deadline, New York Magazine, CNNMoney, Business Insider, TheBlaze, Media Matters for America, TVNewser, Glenn Beck and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Murdochs Exploring Fox News Options as Pressure on Bill Shine Mounts — The company has quietly put out feelers for a possible new head of Fox News with the preference, say sources, that it be a woman. — The Murdochs may be preparing for a leadership change at Fox News.

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Daily Wire, TheBlaze and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Justin Baragona / Mediaite:
'He's Pretty Close to Perfect': Lou Dobbs and Hannity Take Turns Gushing Over Trump

Discussion: RedState and Joe.My.God.

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Exclusive: Federal probe of Fox News expands

Discussion: TVNewser, The Week, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Axios, more at Mediagazer »

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Why can't House repeal Obamacare? Because a lot of Republicans don't want to — “We're going to go when we have the votes,” Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday when asked when the House will pass a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. Lawmakers will not be constrained by any “artificial deadline,” Ryan declared.

Discussion: Raw Story, Hit & Run, Daily Wire, Hot Air, The Hill, Politico and Political Wire

Matt Fuller / The Huffington Post:
Republicans Still Don't Have The Votes To Replace Obamacare

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, FiveThirtyEight, Politicus USA and Hot Air

Noam N. Levey / Los Angeles Times:
GOP shuts out doctors, experts, Democrats — pretty much everybody — as they work on Obamacare repeal

Discussion: Mother Jones and IJR

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

DeMint set to be ousted from Heritage Foundation — The controversial president of The Heritage Foundation, former Sen. Jim DeMint, may soon be out of a job, following a dispute with board members about the direction of conservative think tank, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.

Discussion: RedState, Political Wire and The Week

Cameron Easley / Morning Consult:

Political Media Earns Poor Marks From Americans — As political journalists prepare to gather at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday to celebrate their work, a new Morning Consult poll is likely to make many of them cringe.

Discussion: Front Page Magazine, Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit

Politico:

What It's Really Like to Cover Trump — Our fourth annual survey of the White House press corps. — This marks the fourth year in a row that Politico Magazine has surveyed the White House press corps, our annual snapshot of the highs, lows and general chaos of trying to cover the most powerful office on earth.

Discussion: Mother Jones

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:
The Ad Hoc Presidency

Discussion: Washington Post

Washington Post:

‘I was all set to terminate’: Inside Trump's sudden shift on NAFTA — President Trump was set to announce Saturday, on the 100th day of his presidency, that he was withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement — the sort of disruptive proclamation that would upend both global …

Discussion: Deadspin, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Political Insider blog, The Daily Caller, The Week, The Root, NBC News, Just Security, Eschaton, New York Magazine, Raw Story, New York Times and Politico

Wall Street Journal:
Trump Says Nafta Partners Persuaded Him to Keep U.S. in Trade Pact

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post, National Review, Axios and The Week

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
Trump's Presidential Status Anxiety

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RedState, Salon, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:

Alex Jones Suffers Defeat In Custody Hearing — “Mr. Jones is like a cult leader,” the conspiracy blogger's ex-wife told the jury. “And we've seen the horrific damage cult leaders do to their followers.” — Reporting From — AUSTIN — After a grueling 10-day trial …

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, Raw Story and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Doug Stanglin / USA Today:
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones loses primary custody of his kids

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Tarini Parti / BuzzFeed:

The Convicted Con Artist Of The Winter White House … WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — An admitted fraudster who owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to his victims has had access to President Donald Trump through his wife, who is the guest reception manager of Mar-a-Lago, the Winter White House.

Discussion: The Week

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Schumer blocks one-week stopgap funding bill — (D-N.Y.) on Thursday objected to a deal on passing a one-week stopgap government funding bill, citing concerns about ongoing negotiations over a larger spending agreement. — Schumer said there were still unresolved “poison pill riders” …

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
McConnell: Senate will pass short-term funding bill to avoid shutdown

Discussion: taxpolicycenter.org and Outside the Beltway

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Living in the Trump Zone — Fans of old TV series may remember a classic “Twilight Zone” episode titled “It's a Good Life.” It featured a small town terrorized by a 6-year-old who for some reason had monstrous superpowers, coupled with complete emotional immaturity.

Discussion: Raw Story and CNN

David Brooks / New York Times:
The Pond-Skater Presidency — You've got to give him credit …

Discussion: Yahoo and Balloon Juice

Mark Hensch / The Hill:

Trump: 'No reason there's not peace between Israel and the Palestinians' — President Trump says there is “no reason” Israelis and Palestinians cannot end their longstanding animosity. — “I want to see peace with Israel and the Palestinians,” Trump told Reuters Thursday.

Discussion: RedState

Reuters:
Trump complains Saudis not paying fair share for U.S. defense

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Mark Penn / The Hill:

Why the polls are wrong about Trump. Again. — Today we live in a polling bubble - surveys taken from the perches in New York, Washington and Los Angeles may be obscuring rather than illuminating many of the underlying views and trends of the American electorate.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Common Dreams and Washington Post

New York Times:

State Department Wants to Clear Nikki Haley's Remarks Before She Speaks — UNITED NATIONS — The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, has often been the first, most outspoken member of the Trump administration to weigh in on key foreign policy issues …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Magazine, FITSNews, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, Axios, RedState and Political Wire

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

N.S.A Halts Collection of Americans' Emails About Foreign Targets — WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency is stopping one of the most disputed forms of its warrantless surveillance program in which it collects Americans' emails and texts to and from people overseas and that mention …

more at Techmeme »

Lucia Mutikani / Reuters:

U.S. first-quarter growth weakest in three years as consumer spending falters — The U.S. economy grew at its weakest pace in three years in the first quarter as consumer spending barely increased and businesses invested less on inventories, in a potential setback to President Donald Trump's promise to boost growth.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Hot Air and The Week

Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times: G.D.P. Report Shows U.S. Economy Off to Slow Start in 2017

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Donald Trump's first 100 days have been a moneymaking success story — He's getting what he cares about. — Donald Trump attracted a reputation over the years as a ruthless and unscrupulous businessman. He said on the campaign trail that having been “greedy all my life,” …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, ABC News and Politico

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Lewandowski's firm appears to offer Trump meetings — A firm co-founded by Donald Trump's original campaign manager Corey Lewandowski appears to have been pitching clients around the world by offering not only policy and political advice, but also face time with President Trump …

Discussion: RedState, Talking Points Memo, IJR, Mediaite and The Week

Jonathan Shorman / Wichita Eagle:

Brownback wants $24 million to keep guns out of psychiatric hospitals — TOPEKA — Gov. Sam Brownback wants more than $24 million over the next two years to keep guns out of state hospitals, frustrating lawmakers who question how such security measures can be put into place by a July 1 deadline.

Discussion: Raw Story and ABC News

Associated Press:

American Airlines announces pay raises, and investors balk — American Airlines expects its raises for pilots and flight attendants will total close to $1 billion over three years. (Alan Diaz / Associated Press) — American Airlines is giving pay raises to its pilots and flight attendants …