| WHITE HOUSE & ADMINISTRATION: High-stakes trade talks between the Trump administration and Chinese negotiators are set to resume today in Washington. China on Wednesday threatened to retaliate in kind if the United States increases tariffs on $200 billion in imported Chinese goods after midnight Friday, as formally announced in Washington. The president theorized that China backtracked from commitments it made to the administration as the negotiations progressed because Beijing believes its position will strengthen if a Democratic president is in the Oval Office in 2021. The Wall Street Journal: China decided to play hardball because Beijing believed the United States was willing to compromise. Although the financial markets worry that talks could yet fall apart, leading to higher tariffs on imported Chinese goods that would raise prices for U.S. consumers, the presence of Chinese Premier Liu He in Washington today and Friday is considered a hopeful sign. “The reason for the China pullback & attempted renegotiation of the Trade Deal is the sincere HOPE that they will be able to `negotiate’ with Joe Biden or one of the very weak Democrats, and thereby continue to ripoff the United States (($500 Billion a year)) for years to come,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “Guess what, that’s not going to happen! China has just informed us that they (Vice-Premier) are now coming to the U.S. to make a deal. We’ll see, but I am very happy with over $100 Billion a year in Tariffs filling U.S. coffers...great for U.S., not good for China!” According to The Wall Street Journal, analysts at Oxford Economics estimated that tariffs of 25 percent against all Chinese imports could reduce U.S. economic growth by 0.3 percent, which could push the growth rate below 2 percent by the end of the year. The Associated Press: Trump’s tariff hike menaces a strong economy. > Trump’s taxes: The president on Wednesday made light of details about his business losses decades ago, which added up to more than $1 billion over a decade and allowed him to pay little or no federal taxes, according to The New York Times. The president described the losses and tax hedges as “sport.” “Real estate developers in the 1980’s & 1990’s, more than 30 years ago, were entitled to massive write offs and depreciation which would, if one was actively building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases,” Trump tweeted. “Much was non monetary. Sometimes considered “tax shelter,” you would get it by building, or even buying. You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes ... almost all real estate developers did — and often re-negotiate with banks, it was sport. Additionally, the very old information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!” As Niall Stanage reports, Trump has long been dogged by criticism that he was never the successful business tycoon he claimed to be. The Times reporting late on Tuesday added new information that could potentially tarnish Trump’s aura among his supporters. Boasting about being wealthy enough to pay no taxes is not the economic message some of his middle- and lower-income supporters embrace. > White House national security adviser John Bolton is a year into his tenure in the West Wing and his fingerprints are all over Trump’s foreign policy. Detractors fear Bolton is pushing Trump toward military action against Venezuela and Iran. Allies say Bolton is just doing his job to provide Trump with options in two countries that have his attention (The Hill). Reuters: Trump slaps new U.S. sanctions on Iran’s metals industry. The Washington Post: Trump grousing about Bolton’s interventionist strategies. > White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney: Trump’s top staff lieutenant is a lightning rod for some Senate Republicans who complain a disaster assistance compromise is stuck because of Mulvaney. They see the former congressman as partial to the conservative House Freedom Caucus and its efforts to influence Trump in directions perceived as too strident for the GOP political realities in the Senate (The Hill). > Health and Human Services and drug imports: Trump says he’d like to approve Florida's plan to import prescription drugs from Canada as a way to lower drug costs. But Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar frowned on that idea during a White House meeting on Monday. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who attended as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, questioned whether imported pharmaceuticals would be safe. The idea, however, has the potential to shake up the U.S. drug market and bring down prices (The Hill). > Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and privacy: At a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce consumer protection subcommittee, FTC commissioners encouraged Congress to pass the nation’s first comprehensive consumer privacy law, which they said would add teeth to what the regulatory agency can accomplish. A bipartisan Senate working group has been trying to hammer out a draft compromise bill since last summer. House members said on Wednesday they will draft their own measure (The Hill).
> Colorado school shooting: Ivanka Trump met privately with Douglas County, Colo., first responders and law enforcement officials on Wednesday in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Colorado on Tuesday. A White House spokesman said she conveyed the president’s gratitude for the swift action of those who rushed to STEM School Highlands Ranch, where nine students were shot, one fatally, by two fellow students. The president tweeted, “Our Nation grieves at the unspeakable violence that took a precious young life and badly injured others in Colorado. God be with the families and thank you to the First Responders for bravely intervening. We are in close contact with Law Enforcement.” The Associated Press: Slain teen in Colorado charged the attacker. *** POLITICS & CAMPAIGNS: The president took to the campaign stage once again Wednesday night, this time in Panama City, Fla., where he predicted that the ongoing investigations by Democrats will lead to him winning four more years in the White House. According to Jordan Fabian and Brett Samuels, Trump touched on a number of subjects during the rally, as he usually does, but spoke directly about the investigations and argued that Democratic lawmakers are more interested in Trump-centric probes than they are promoting the economy. “They want to do investigations instead of investments,” Trump told supporters at an outdoor amphitheater near the Gulf of Mexico. “I think it drives us on to victory in 2020.” The Hill: Trump pledges $448M for Florida hurricane recovery. Trump also weighed in on some of the 2020 Democrats running for the chance to take him on next year. He wondered “what the hell happened” to former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), adding that he has a “fallen like a rock” recently in the 2020 race. He also spoke for the first time about South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who he mocked for his youth and inexperience in high-level negotiations. "He’s got a great chance. He’ll be great. He’ll be great representing us against President Xi of China," he said, eliciting laughs from the crowd. "That’ll be great." The Wall Street Journal: Republicans hire nine regional directors for Trump 2020 election. 
© Getty Images > 2020 Democratic hopefuls gathered Wednesday in a push to win union support, including a potentially critical endorsement, and to provide themselves a boost in the early stages of the party’s primary process. As Max Greenwood reports, over the course of two days at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers legislative conference in Washington, half a dozen contenders recalled personal ties to organized labor, railed against international trade agreements and decried right-to-work laws that they said had gutted organized labor protections across the country. The appearances underscore just how eager Democrats are to court members of major labor unions at a time when many groups are reluctant to wade in early to the 2020 presidential race. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) vowed before the workers union to place a moratorium on cuts to pension benefits overseen by the federal government, if he is elected. Politico: ‘Case not closed, buddy’: Warren goes all in on Trump impeachment. NBC News: Kamala Harris blows past Democratic rivals in fundraising in communities of color. Politico: ‘Nobody is ceding California to Kamala Harris’: Mayor Pete raids the West Coast. Josh Kraushaar: Are House Democrats ready for the rematch? Elsewhere in politics … McConnell’s reelection campaign made “Cocaine Mitch” shirts available for purchase through his campaign store. The shirts ($35) were announced on the one-year anniversary of the defeat of Don Blankenship, who gave McConnell the nickname, in West Virginia (The Hill) … Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is not ruling out a run for his old Senate seat in Alabama against Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.). He said he remains “interested about the issues” while speaking during a conference in Las Vegas (The Hill). | 
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