* From Matt Egan at CNN Money:
President Trump loved to brag during the campaign about his business skills. Now that he’s in charge, business leaders seem alarmed by Trump’s political skills.
A stunning 50% of the CEOs, business execs, government officials and academics surveyed at the annual Yale CEO Summit give Trump an “F” for his first 130 days in office.
The survey, released earlier this week, found that another 21% give Trump’s performance a “D” so far. Just 1% of the 125 leaders polled awarded the billionaire an “A.”
* Based on the news that Trump is now a target of the Mueller investigation for obstruction of justice, the folks at First Read gathered all of his quotes from the last two weeks of the 2016 campaign about how Hillary Clinton would be mired in investigations. Here are just a few of them:
In 2016, Trump warned of endless investigations of Hillary Clinton.
Instead, the focus is now on him https://t.co/lHo52rkc1J pic.twitter.com/k6EFFhLMOu
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) June 15, 2017
Given what we know now, Murray actually left out my favorite.
There’s virtually no doubt that FBI Director Comey and the great, great special agents of the FBI will be able to collect more than enough evidence to garner indictments against Hillary Clinton and her inner circle, despite her efforts to disparage them and to discredit them. If she were to win this election, it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
* One of the things we’re hearing from Republicans is that since there is no proof of collusion, Trump can’t be guilty of obstruction of justice. They might want to refresh their memories.
Worth noting:Clinton was impeached for obstructing justice in Jones suit, which had been dismissed at time of vote https://t.co/vTmeO3wtqF
— Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff) June 15, 2017
* Earlier today I noted what Trump could learn from Obama about promoting apprenticeships. But I might have missed the actually lede on that story. In an article about the “swat team of mini-me’s” that Jared Kushner has surrounded himself with, Emily Jane Fox notes what they’re working on. An awful lot of their ideas seem to have been lifted from President Obama’s agenda. But shhh…better not tell Trump.
In terms of infrastructure and jobs, the team plans to focus on four areas. The first is reforming the permit system for large-scale projects, which, as it stands, can take more than eight years to push through (one goal is to get this closer to two years). The second is what the O.A.I. calls “transformative projects,” or cutting-edge solutions that would “unleash a significant amount of economic growth,” the official explained, such as building an underground high-speed rail system across the Northeast corridor. Third, is an emphasis on building rural technology, like broadband networks. And last, the team is focused on retraining American workers to address the growing skills-gap problem that the White House says has left hundreds of thousands of jobs unfilled [ie, apprenticeships].
* When Trump was elected, a lot of people commented that it was a delayed realization of almost everything Pat Buchanan stood for. Given that there is a lot of talk about violent rhetoric after the shooting in Virginia, it might be worth noting that Buchanan’s latest column is titled, “Are we nearing civil war?” Here is how he concludes (I have bolded his violent rhetoric for emphasis):
Trump has had many accomplishments since his election. Yet his enemies in the media and their deep state allies have often made a purgatory of his presidency.
What he and his White House need to understand is that this is not going to end, that this is a fight to the finish, that his enemies will not relent until they see him impeached or resigning in disgrace.
To prevail, Trump will have to campaign across this country and wage guerrilla war in this capital, using the legal and political weapons at his disposal to ferret out the enemies within his own government.
Not only is this battle essential, if Trump hopes to realize his agenda, it is winnable. For the people sense that the Beltway elites are cynically engaged in preserving their own privileges, positions and power.
If the president cannot rewrite Obamacare or achieve tax reform, he should not go around the country in 2018 wailing about Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer. They are not the real adversaries. They are but interchangeable parts.
He should campaign against the real enemies of America First by promising to purge the deep state and flog its media collaborators.
Time to burn down the Bastille.
* Finally, on the other end of the spectrum, there is this from Lauretta Charlton:
This week marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Loving v. Virginia decision, which struck down anti-miscegenation laws in America. Interracial couples are celebrating the landmark case by sharing personal stories and testimonials online. The “Holding On” video, already a tearjerker, is a powerful addition to those contributions.
