1. Andy Borowitz: Trump Agrees to Let Kim Jong Un Have Pence as Manservant

As new details emerge from the Singapore summit, the White House has confirmed that Donald J. Trump unilaterally offered to let Kim Jong Un have Mike Pence as his personal manservant.

The offer reportedly came after Kim spoke glowingly to Trump about the Vice-President’s obsequiousness, sources said.

“Even by North Korean standards, Pence puts my toadies to shame,” Kim reportedly said.

Once the necessary paperwork is squared away, Pence could begin bowing and scraping in Pyongyang as early as next week.

Although State Department insiders were taken by surprise by Trump’s offering of Pence, for whom the U.S. will receive nothing in return, the deal has been met with nearly universal approval.

“At least Trump didn’t give away much this time,” one diplomat said. https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump

2. Poll: 66 percent of U.S. voters oppose family separations

Roughly two-thirds of U.S. voters oppose the Trump administration’s controversial policy of separating children from their parents who cross the U.S. border illegally, according to a Quinnipiac Poll  released on Monday.

Sixty-six percent of those surveyed opposed the policy. The vast majority of Democrats surveyed — 91 percent — opposed the policy, compared with 35 percent of Republicans. Only 7 percent of Democratic voters support the policy, while 55 percent of Republicans support it.

Half of voters believe the Trump administration is also being too aggressive in deporting undocumented immigrants. When broken down, 86 percent of Democrats believe the government is too harsh, compared with 10 percent of Republicans.

In addition, 79 percent support the idea of allowing Dreamers, young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, to remain in the country and to ultimately apply for citizenship. Fifteen percent oppose that approach. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/18/poll-66-percent-of-us-voters-oppose-family-separations-650948

3. Trump Loses Temper Over Border Wall Funding

In a private meeting regarding the wall Trump fumed to senators and his own staff about the $1.6 billion the Senate is planning to send him this fall, according to two people familiar with the meeting. Trump wants the full $25 billion upfront and doesn’t understand why Congress is going to supply him funds in a piecemeal fashion — even though that’s how the spending process typically works.

The president said at the meeting that if Congress doesn’t give him the resources he needs for border security, he will shut down the government in September, according to one of the people familiar with the meeting. He did not give a specific number, but has been fixated on getting the $25 billion in a lump sum. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/19/trump-border-wall-funding-immigration-653530

4. Trump Told G7 Leaders That Crimea Is Russian Because Everyone Speaks Russian In Crimea

President Donald Trump told G7 leaders that Crimea is Russian because everyone who lives there speaks Russian, according to two diplomatic sources.

Trump made the remarks over dinner last Friday during a discussion on foreign affairs at the G7 summit in Quebec, Canada, one of the diplomats told BuzzFeed News.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

Russia invaded and then annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, leading to widespread international condemnation and sanctions. The move also directly led to Russia being kicked out of the then-G8. Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Russia’s intervention in Crimea at the time, saying that he had the right to protect Russian citizens and Russian speakers in Ukraine. https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/trump-russia-crimea

5. The DAILY GRILL

“I wouldn’t want to see homosexuals teaching school anymore than I’d want to see members of the American Nazi Party teaching school.” — Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), quoted by the Salt Lake Tribune in 1977.

VERSUS

“No one should ever feel less because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. LGBT youth deserve our unwavering love and support. They deserve our validation and the assurance that not only is there a place for them in this society, but that it is far better off because of them. ... If there were ever a time to show our LGBT friends just how much we love them, it is now in a world where millions suffer in silence. We owe it to each other to love loudly." — Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), in a speech honoring Pride Month 2018.

 

“The sleazy New York Democrats, and their now disgraced (and run out of town) A.G. Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000,” ... ”Schneiderman “never had the guts to bring this ridiculous case” and that “his disciples brought it when we would not settle.” -- Donald Trump

VERSUS

Trump’s foundation “illegally provided extensive support” to his 2016 campaign. It also alleges that the foundation engaged in “willful self-dealing” to serve Trump’s personal and business interests.” ...“The Trump Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose or legality.” -- New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood on a sweeping lawsuit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation and its board of directors — the president and his three eldest children — for engaging in “a pattern of persistent illegal conduct.”

 

Democrats are the problem. They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. They can’t win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters! -- Donald Trump on Twitter

VERSUS

“No, @POTUS, saying immigrants ‘infest’ our country is repugnant, reprehensible, + repulsive. To dehumanize those who wish to make a better life for themselves + their families flies in the face of decency. The real infestation is only one of your baseless rhetoric.” -- Retiring Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) tweet.

6. From MEDIA MATTERS (They watch Fox News so you don't have to)

Three reporters push back on Sarah Sanders' lie that it is simply "following the law" to separate immigrant families. CBS' Paula Reid: "There is no law that requires families be separated at the border. This was the administration's choice."https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/06/14/three-reporters-push-back-sarah-sanders-lie-it-simply-following-law-separate-immigrant-families/220441\

Alliance Defending Freedom attorney compares "leftists" to "communists and Nazis," says they "feed on hatred." ADF legal counsel Travis Barham says "leftists ... share the same philosophies and authoritarian tendencies" as "communists and Nazis."https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/06/15/Alliance-Defending-Freedom-attorney-compares-leftists-to-communists-and-Nazis-says-they-fe/220455

Local Virginia media failed to report that the newly elected GOP Senate nominee is a neo-Confederate with connections to white supremacists. Evening news programs virtually ignored Corey Stewart’s extremism. Virginia newspapers did only slightly better. https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/06/15/local-virginia-media-failed-report-newly-elected-gop-senate-nominee-neo-confederate-connections/220453

Laura Ingraham: People talking about children being held in cages at the border "is hilarious." Ingraham: "Oh my gosh, it's funny." https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/06/18/laura-ingraham-people-talking-about-children-being-held-cages-border-hilarious/220463

Ann Coulter calls children separated from families at border "child actors" and begs Trump: "Don't fall for the actor children."https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/06/18/ann-coulter-calls-children-separated-families-border-child-actors-and-begs-trump-dont-fall-actor/220465

Steve Doocy quibbles with term "cages" to describe immigrant detention facilities: "They built walls out of chain link fences."https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/06/18/steve-doocy-quibbles-term-cages-describe-immigrant-detention-facilities-they-built-walls-out-chain/220461

Tucker Carlson: People speaking up against America detaining children in cages just want to "change your country forever." Carlson: "The cost is entirely on you -- but don't complain, or else they will call you 'Hitler.'"https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/06/18/tucker-carlson-people-speaking-against-america-detaining-children-cages-just-want-change-your/220470

Laura Ingraham calls child detention centers “essentially summer camps.” Ingraham: "Liberals have seized on the separated children and turned the entire image into a political weapon."https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/06/18/laura-ingraham-calls-child-detention-centers-essentially-summer-camps/220472

Jeff Sessions to Laura Ingraham: Comparisons to Nazis aren’t fair because “in Nazi Germany they were keeping the Jews from leaving.” https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/06/18/jeff-sessions-laura-ingraham-comparisons-nazis-aren-t-fair-because-nazi-germany-they-were-keeping/220473

Right-wing media attempt to distract from family separation policy by attacking abortion rights instead. https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/06/19/right-wing-media-attempt-distract-family-separation-policy-attacking-abortion-rights-instead/220490

7. From the Late Shows

John Oliver Exposes Trump’s Lies on Border Policy: https://youtu.be/ezxRf1-1Jf4

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Jeff Sessions Cites The Bible In Separating Children From Parents: https://youtu.be/j4KaLkYxMZ8

8. Late Night Jokes for Dems

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen yesterday dismissed demands that President Trump unilaterally end the practice of separating families at the border, and said, "Congress can fix this tomorrow." Really? Have you MET Congress? They're still finalizing the Louisiana Purchase. -- Seth Meyers

According to Politico, White House chief of staff John Kelly has been going to the gym in the middle of the day. Well, that's one sure way to not run into the boss. -- Seth Meyers

President Trump repeated his false statement today that crime is up in Germany and said the numbers may appear lower because officials don't want to report the crimes. Dude, you want us to believe you've been poring over secret unreleased German crime statistics? You haven't even read your own autobiography. -- Seth Meyers

Today was the 40th anniversary of the first "Garfield" comic strip, so from one guy making fun of a fat lazy orange narcissist to another, congratulations. -- Seth Meyers

President Trump is continuing to blame Democrats for his new zero-tolerance immigration policy that has taken thousands of children from their parents and forced them into the detention centers. Even with a hell storm of criticism coming his way from Republicans and Democrats alike, the president is digging in — as he does — he keeps saying there's a law requiring him to do this. Which, first of all, no, there isn't, that's complete B.S. Secondly, since when did Donald Trump start caring about the law? -- Jimmy Kimmel

There's also a law against starting a fake university, but that's different. -- Jimmy Kimmel

Trump said Democrats want illegal immigrants to "infest" our country. He used the word "infest." Like his German grandfather infested our country. No job, no English. He crawled in on his stomach and infested the country with a bunch of Trumps. -- Jimmy Kimmel

This is not a popular policy — 67% of Americans oppose it. Even Melania released a statement saying she hates to see families separated. Partly because it makes her jealous. “Why can't I get separated?” -- Jimmy Kimmel

The president is very clearly, no matter what he says, using these children to try to get his wall funded. And here's the thing: If Trump wants to use kids as negotiating tools, the kids he should use are Eric and Donald Jr. They seem to be enormous tools. They are tools that wouldn't even fit in the box. -- Jimmy Kimmel

Meanwhile, the president's relationship with his chief of staff is on the rocks. John Kelly is reportedly so frustrated with Trump he stopped even trying to rein him in. Kelly reportedly has begun working out in the middle of the day and is said to be mentally checked out of his job. Just like Trump, except for the working-out part. -- Jimmy Kimmel

John Kelly also reportedly said he doesn't care if Trump gets impeached. You know, being Donald Trump's chief of staff is kind of like being his wife. You'll never see him, you have no control over what he does, and it's only a matter of time until he trades you in for a new one. -- Jimmy Kimmel

The king and queen of Spain visited Washington. When Trump first heard people speaking Spanish in the White House, he frantically pressed the silent alarm button under his desk. -- Jimmy Fallon

 

9. Trump Dismisses Kim Jong Un’s Atrocities: ‘He’s a Tough Guy’

In an interview with Fox News immediately after his summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, President Donald Trump appeared to dismiss North Korea’s human rights violations and Kim’s atrocities against his own people. 

“Hey, he’s a tough guy. When you take over a country—a tough country, tough people—and you take it over from your father, I don’t care who you are, what you are, how much of an advantage you have. If you can do that at 27 years old, I mean, that’s one in 10,000 that could do that. So he’s a very smart guy. He’s a great negotiator,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier. When pressed further, Trump responded: “Yeah, but so have other people done some really bad things. I could go through a lot of nations where a lot of bad things were done.” Last year, the president made a similar argument when dismissing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s human rights violations. “What do you think, our country's so innocent?” he said at the time.

When pressed further, Trump responded: “Yeah, but so have other people done some really bad things. I could go through a lot of nations where a lot of bad things were done.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-dismisses-kim-jong-uns-atrocities-hes-a-tough-guy

10. The Political Fringe Is Now In Power

Jeff Sessions and Stephen Miller spent years on the political fringe in the nation’s capital as high-decibel immigration hard-liners, always warning about the dangers of open borders but rarely in a position to affect law or policy.

Now, Mr. Sessions, the attorney general and former senator from Alabama, and Mr. Miller, the president’s top policy adviser and former Senate aide to Mr. Sessions, have moved from the edges of the immigration debate to its red-hot center. Powerful like never before, the two are the driving force behind President Trump’s policy that has led thousands of children to be separated from their parents at the nation’s southern border. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/us/politics/immigration-children-sessions-miller.html

11. Trump aides plan fresh immigration crackdowns before midterms

Top aides to President Donald Trump are planning additional crackdowns on immigration before the November midterms, despite a growing backlash over the administration’s move to separate migrant children from parents at the border.

Senior policy adviser Stephen Miller and a team of officials from the departments of Justice, Labor, Homeland Security and the Office of Management and Budget have been quietly meeting for months to find ways to use executive authority and under-the-radar rule changes to strengthen hard-line U.S. immigration policies, according to interviews with half a dozen current and former administration officials and Republicans close to the White House.

The goal for Miller and his team is to arm Trump with enough data and statistics by early September to show voters that he fulfilled his immigration promises — even without a border wall or any other congressional measure, said one Republican close to the White House.

Among the fresh ideas being circulated: tightening rules on student visas and exchange programs; limiting visas for temporary agricultural workers; making it harder for legal immigrants who have applied for welfare programs to obtain residency; and collecting biometric data from visitors from certain countries. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/18/trump-aides-plan-fresh-immigration-crackdowns-before-midterms-

12. US officials likely lost track of nearly 6,000 unaccompanied migrant kids

“The Trump administration has likely lost track of nearly 6,000 unaccompanied migrant children, thousands more than lawmakers were alerted to last month,” according to a McClatchy review of federal data.

“Federal officials acknowledged last month that nearly 1,500 unaccompanied minors arrived on the southern border alone without their parents and were placed with sponsors who did not keep in touch with federal officials, but those numbers were only a snapshot of a three- month period during the last fiscal year.” http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article213430099.html

13. Forget Tax Cuts. Trump Wants to Rally the G.O.P. Base Over Immigration.

As Republicans try to keep their midterm election strategy focused on the economy, tax cuts and falling unemployment, President Trump sent his clearest signal yet on Monday that he intends to make divisive, racially charged issues like immigration central going into the campaign season.

Facing bipartisan criticism over his administration’s family separation practice on the border, Mr. Trump renewed the sort of bald and demagogic attacks on undocumented immigrants that worked well for him politically in his 2016 presidential campaign. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/us/politics/trump-immigration-midterms.html

14. Former ICE Director: Some migrant family separations are permanent

The former head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told NBC News that migrant parents separated from their children at the border are sometimes unable to relocate their child and remain permanently separated.

"Permanent separation. It happens," said John Sandweg, who served as acting director of ICE under the Obama administration from 2013-2014.

While a parent can quickly move from detention to deportation, a child's case for asylum or deportation may not be heard by a judge for several years because deporting a child is a lower priority for the courts, Sandweg explained.

"You could easily end up in a situation where the gap between a parent's deportation and a child's deportation is years," Sandweg said.

As a result, parents may find themselves back in their home countries struggling to find their children. Many do not have access to legal counsel or understand the U.S. immigration or judicial systems.

Children who stay in the foster system for lengthy periods of time may become wards of the state and finally adopted. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/former-ice-director-some-migrant-family-separations-are-permanent-n884391

15. Riling Up the Base May Backfire on Trump

Mr. Trump’s base strategy brands the Republican Party as sexist, racist, xenophobic and anti-immigrant, which magnifies the anti-Trump reaction among Democrats. But it also leaves a tenth who are conservative Catholics and a fifth who are nonreligious conservatives more tentative in their support of the Republican Party — and it pushes away the quarter of Republicans who remain ideologically moderate. The harder the president bangs these drums, the more Democrats become enraged and a segment of Republicans gets demoralized. The more he trashes and defeats his Republican opponents in primaries, the more these voters may contemplate different political options. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/18/opinion/trump-base-midterms-moderate-republicans.html

16. Democrats Hold 7-Point Lead In Race for Congress

Democrats hold a 7 point lead over Republicans in the generic House ballot, which is basically the same as the 8 point lead they held in a Monmouth University Poll taken in late April. Opinion that the country is on the right track has increased by 7 points but is still in the minority. On the other hand, approval of the tax reform package passed by Congress at the end of last year has slipped by 6 points. In other poll findings, the public narrowly agrees with continuing the Mueller probe.

If the election for U.S. House of Representatives was held today, 48% of registered voters say they would support or lean toward supporting the Democratic candidate in their district compared to 41% who would vote for the Republican. This is similar to the 49% to 41% edge Democrats held six weeks ago in Monmouth’s polling. https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/MonmouthPoll_US_061818

17. GOP Senate Nominee Compares Cages For Migrant Kids To Playgrounds

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) pushed back hard on the idea that keeping border-crossing children in chain-link cages was inhumane, defending the practice in two local radio shows on Wednesday.

Said Cramer: “By the way, chain link fences are around playgrounds all over America, all over North Dakota. And chain link fences allow line-of-sight visual connectivity with children and families. You know, there’s nothing inhumane about a chain link fence. If it is, then every ballpark in America is inhumane. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/gop-senate-nom-cages-for-migrant-kids-are-humane-like-chain-link-playgrounds\

18. Michael Bloomberg Will Spend $80 Million on the Midterms. His Goal: Flip the House for the Democrats.

Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, has decided to throw his political clout and personal fortune behind the Democratic campaign to take control of the House of Representatives this year, directing aides to spend tens of millions of dollars in an effort to expel Republicans from power.

Mr. Bloomberg — a political independent who has championed left-of-center policies on gun control, immigration and the environment — has approved a plan to pour at least $80 million into the 2018 election, with the bulk of that money going to support Democratic congressional candidates, advisers to Mr. Bloomberg said. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/mike-bloomberg-democrats-election.html

19. What You Can Do Right Now to Help Immigrant Families Separated at the Border

See https://www.thecut.com/2018/06/how-to-help-fight-family-separation-policy-immigration-trump.html