memeorandum: Trump to Officially Nominate Esper as Next Defense Secretary (Helene Cooper/New York Times)

1:20 PM ET, June 21, 2019

Top Items:

Trump Approves Strikes on Iran, but Then Abruptly Pulls Back — WASHINGTON — President Trump approved military strikes against Iran in retaliation for downing an American surveillance drone, but pulled back from launching them on Thursday night after a day of escalating tensions.

Discussion: American Prospect, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, C4ISRNET, Politico, Shareblue Media, Just Security, Washington Post, Mother Jones, The American Conservative, Talking Points Memo, Axios, CNN, National Review, The Guardian, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Vanity Fair, Wonkette, The Daily Beast, Reason, VICE, WORLD, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Root, Hot Air, The Salmon of Knowledge, Contemptor, JNS.org, Task & Purpose, Splinter, TheBlaze, emptywheel, The Diplomat, CNBC, WSVN-TV, PJ Media Home, WTVR-TV, Rolling Stone, NPR, ABC News, Al Jazeera, Hullabaloo, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos, Issues & Insights, The Week, Financial Times, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, Slate, Townhall, No More Mister Nice Blog, GZERO, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Informed Comment, Taylor Marsh, The Sun, New York Post, Balloon Juice, Newser, UPI, Fox News, fox5sandiego.com, Power Line, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Israellycool, Foreign Policy, Daily Caller News Foundation, Progress Pond, Washington Free Beacon and Washington Monthly

New York Times:

Trump Stopped Strike on Iran Because It Was ‘Not Proportionate’ — President Trump said Friday morning that the United States military had been “cocked and loaded” for a strike against Iran on Thursday night, but that he called it off with 10 minutes to spare when a general told him that 150 people would likely die in the attack.

Discussion: NBC News, Jacobin, The Atlantic, Townhall, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, CNSNews, The Gateway Pundit and abc7NY

Reuters:

Trump warned Iran via Oman that U.S. attack imminent, called for talks: Iranian officials — DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian officials told Reuters on Friday that Tehran had received a message from U.S. President Donald Trump through Oman overnight warning that a U.S. attack on Iran was imminent.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, BBC, Politico and Splinter

Peter Baker / New York Times:

For Trump, ‘Judgment Time Is Coming’ on How to Respond to Iran — WASHINGTON — President Trump's tenure as commander in chief came to a dramatic turning point on Thursday night as he found himself torn between his own competing advisers and his own competing instincts …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian, PJ Media Home, The Week, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, Politico, Breitbart, CNBC, Al Jazeera and Axios

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
The commander in chief is AWOL

Discussion: Reason

Newsweek:
Donald Trump Decided to Strike Iranian Missile System, Then Changed His Mind

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian, Washington Post, Defense One, CNN, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, VICE, The New Civil Rights Movement and Wonkette

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
The U.S. Has Lots of Options With Iran

Discussion: CNN, The Week and Daily Kos

Tucker Carlson / Fox News:
Warmongers in Washington badly want a war with Iran. Trump is rightfully skeptical

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Daily Wire

Steve Inskeep / NPR:
Iran's U.N. Ambassador: U.S. Escalating Hostilities Like A ‘Knife Under Your Throat’

Discussion: Breitbart, New York Post and Wired

Andrea Pitzer / NYR Daily:

‘Some Suburb of Hell’: America's New Concentration Camp System — On Monday, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez referred to US border detention facilities as “concentration camps,” spurring a backlash in which critics accused her of demeaning the memory of those who died in the Holocaust.

Discussion: CNN

Nicholas Ballasy / The Intercept:
Ocasio-Cortez Not Apologizing to Kevin McCarthy: “He Should Apologize to the Children …

Discussion: Crooked Media, American Military News and The Atlantic

Associated Press:
Lawyers claim infants, children are in dangerous situation at border detention site

Discussion: Washington Post

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Trump Bets We'll Stop Caring About Migrant Kids

Discussion: Vox

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
Fighting About Calling Them ‘Concentration Camps’ Is Besides The Point

Discussion: Bloomberg, Townhall and Common Dreams

Sarah Jones / New York Magazine:

E. Jean Carroll: “Trump attacked me in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman.” — The cover story New York published today details an encounter the writer E. Jean Carroll had over two decades ago with Donald J. Trump, in which the then-real-estate mogul allegedly assaulted her in a dressing room …

E. Jean Carroll / The Cut:

Hideous Men Donald Trump assaulted me in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room 23 years ago. But he's not alone on the list of awful men in my life. — My first rich boy pulled down my underpants. My last rich boy pulled down my tights. My first rich boy — I had fixed my eyes on his face long enough …

New York Times:

Andrew Weissmann, a Top Mueller Prosecutor, Has a Book Deal — Andrew Weissmann, one of the top prosecutors for Robert S. Mueller III on the Russia investigation, is writing a book that will explore his work on the special counsel's inquiry, according to a publishing executive with knowledge of the deal.

Discussion: Axios, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Politico:

Dems see Hope Hicks testimony as huge gift in legal battle with Trump — In an exclusive interview, Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler also said Democrats would soon sue former White House Counsel Don McGahn. — House Democrats are planning to file a lawsuit within days to force former White …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Caller News Foundation and The Week

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:

NYT reporter flagged Jared Kushner meetings with Russians to FBI — A New York Times reporter fed information about Jared Kushner meeting with Russians to the FBI, newly released emails show. — Journalist Michael Schmidt sent an email on March 24, 2017, to FBI Assistant Director …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Daily Wire, Power Line, Daily Kos, Washington Times, Mediaite and Judicial Watch, more at Mediagazer »

Donald Trump / TIME:

Donald Trump's Interview With TIME on 2020: Read the Transcript — President Donald Trump sat down for an interview with TIME in the Oval Office on June 17 for a story on his re-election campaign. — During the 57-minute conversation, he discussed his Democratic rivals …

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Contemptor, Shareblue Media, Splinter, Mediaite, The Week and Hullabaloo

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post: Trump threatens reporter with prison time during interview

Elizabeth Warren / Medium:

Ending Private Prisons and Exploitation for Profit — Last month Caliburn International — a for-profit company whose subsidiary operates Homestead, the largest detention center for unaccompanied migrant children — hired John Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff.

Discussion: Mother Jones, CNN, Fox News, Breitbart, Axios, Observer, Shakesville, UPI, Daily Kos and Washington Free Beacon

Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:
Elizabeth Warren Wants to Ban Private Prisons: They Have ‘No Place in America’

Discussion: Politico

Wall Street Journal:

Prosecutors Intensify Scrutiny of Trump Fundraiser Elliott Broidy — Federal probe examines foreigners who attended inauguration at invitation of top Trump fundraiser — Federal prosecutors have stepped up a criminal investigation into possible efforts by longtime Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Ali Vitali / NBC News:

Clyburn explains why Harris and Booker haven't caught on in S. Carolina — The third-ranking House Democrat talked to NBC News ahead of his famous ‘Fish Fry’ gathering Friday night, featuring more than 20 presidential contenders. — COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn expressed …

Discussion: Politico and Political Wire

Maxwell Strachan / HuffPost:

Some White House Reporters Are Throwing Sarah Huckabee Sanders A Goodbye Party — White House correspondents and some Trump staffers plan to send Sanders off with “farewell drinks” next week. — Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the reporters who cover the White House haven't always had the smoothest relationship.

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Splinter, TheBlaze and Mediaite

Quint Forgey / Politico:
'It's a ways away': Huckabee says Sarah Sanders in no rush to run for Arkansas governor

Discussion: IJR

Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
After Crying ‘Fake News’ For Years, Sanders Is Getting A Party — Thrown By Reporters

Discussion: Splinter

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

Hacked documents reveal sensitive details of expanding border surveillance — Far more information was taken in the hack of a Customs and Border Protection contractor than U.S. officials have acknowledged. — The recent cyberattack on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection subcontractor …

more at Techmeme »

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

Trump to Officially Nominate Esper as Next Defense Secretary — WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to nominate Mark T. Esper, the secretary of the Army and former West Point classmate of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to be the next defense secretary, administration officials said on Friday.

Discussion: Politico and Outside the Beltway

Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Fairfax ‘thinking very seriously’ about run for governor, says scandal has raised his public profile — Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax said Thursday that he is “very hopeful about the future” and “thinking very seriously” about a gubernatorial run in 2021. — Fairfax, who faces sexual assault allegations …

Discussion: Daily Wire and Washington Free Beacon

Olivia Gazis / CBS News:

Justice Dept review of intel in Russia probe fuels fears of politicization — A mix of concern, confusion and defiance has spread through elements of the intelligence community as a murky picture emerges of Attorney General William Barr's review of its investigative and analytical work …

Patrick Marley / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

On 4-3 vote, Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds state's lame-duck laws limiting power of Democratic governor — MADISON - The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld lame-duck laws Friday that limit the power of the state's new Democratic governor, handing Republicans a victory in one of several legal fights over the laws.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Political Wire

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Laura Ingraham Dismisses Reparations: 'No Do-Overs...We Won, You Lost, That's That' — “As Trump always says, 'you don't get do-overs,' she declared. ” No do-overs, that's it. Fox News star Laura Ingraham waded into the ongoing debate over reparations for descendants of slaves during …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, The New Civil Rights Movement and Contemptor

Emily Flitter / New York Times:

Being Transgender at Goldman Sachs — How Maeve DuVally, an employee in the bank's buttoned-up communications department, became herself at work. — Goldman Sachs's trading floors are vast rooms crammed with rows of tightly packed workstations, four monitors for every trader.

Axios:

Trump isn't matching Obama deportation numbers — Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported more immigrants this fiscal year than any full fiscal year of Donald Trump's presidency, but it has yet to reach Barack Obama's early deportation levels, according to new internal Department of Homeland Security figures obtained by Axios.

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review, The Daily Caller, The Globe Post, VICE and Political Wire

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

What if Trump won't accept 2020 defeat? — In 2016, Donald Trump waffled over whether he would accept the election results if he lost. — Since then, Trump has repeatedly joked about staying in office beyond the two terms the Constitution allows. Jerry Falwell Jr., Trump's …

Discussion: Contemptor

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

Biden called Booker to quell tensions. Things only got worse — After Sen. Cory Booker appeared on CNN on Wednesday night sounding off on Joe Biden's recent comments surrounding segregationists, the New Jersey Democrat got a phone call — it was the former vice president.

Discussion: Vanity Fair, The Hill, Splinter and Talking Points Memo

Tyler Bridges / www.theadvocate.com:

Support for Trump in Louisiana plunges, poll says; here's how this could help Gov. John Bel Edwards — A clear majority of Louisiana voters don't want Donald Trump to win a second term as president, an independent poll shows. — The survey by pollster Verne Kennedy also shows …