Turnbull discovers Trump is much more deferential in person
Daily Trump Tracker: Australia’s PM met the president in New York as Trump campaign team members received some unwanted mail
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (R) deliver brief remarks to reporters as they meet ahead of an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, aboard the USS Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York, U.S. May 4, 2017. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
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Why don’t we get ourselves one of those?
What a difference a few months and 10,000 fewer miles makes. The Australian prime minister didn’t have the best first phone call with Trump, but while face-to-face in New York today, the Tweeter-in-Chief was all smiles and simpering over the “better health care system” Down Under. That Australia’s setup is universal and his own congressional allies just yesterday stripped millions of Americans of their coverage seems to have eluded the president’s notice.
READ MORE: What the Trump phone-call fracas did to Malcolm Turnbull
Where did I put those talking points again?
Trump’s former ear-whisperers are set to spend a lot of time in their basements rifling through bankers’ boxes, thanks to letters from the Senate Intelligence Committee. Paul Manafort, Mike Flynn, Roger Stone and Carter Page will have to take time away from filming their roles in The Expendables 3: Collateral Damage on the Campaign Trail to provide information and records to the investigation into Russian interference in the election.
Changing the channel
Selfie-taker to the stars Ellen DeGeneres says the president is not welcome on her talk show stage. “He’s against everything I stand for,” the host said in an interview marking two decades since her on-screen coming out. Not to worry, Donny boy, Jimmy Fallon can probably fit you in for another hair-ruffling session soon.
Today in empty chairs
For want of a commissioner, the pipeline was stalled. The Trump administration needs to fill at least one seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to meet quorum, preventing a reported $50 billion in oil and gas moving projects from making progress.
Now that’s just petty
As administrations come and go, the staff in the residential portion of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. tend to stay put. But in what’s reportedly a break with tradition, the White House major domo is “no longer employed” there. Angella Reid was the first woman and second African-American to hold the chief usher title; Trump will presumably be looking to fill the role with someone who’s tastes run to gilt and pageantry.