First Draft on Politics: National Guard on the Border

President Trump's advisers said he was readying legislation to block migrants. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, April 4, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [President Trump sat alongside Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at a meeting Tuesday with visiting leaders of Baltic nations.]( President Trump sat alongside Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at a meeting Tuesday with visiting leaders of Baltic nations. Doug Mills/The New York Times Good Wednesday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - The White House said President Trump [planned to deploy]( the National Guard to the southern border to confront what it called a growing threat of illegal immigrants, drugs and crime from Central America. Mr. Trump’s advisers said he was readying new legislation to block migrants and asylum seekers. - Amazon’s stock price dropped sharply before rebounding this week after Mr. Trump [threatened the company]( with possible antitrust action. Mr. Trump’s antibusiness tweets have carried with them the threat that he is prepared to use the power of the presidency to undermine companies that anger him. - A former lawyer for a powerful international corporate law firm was [sentenced to 30 days in prison]( for lying to investigators in the special counsel inquiry about his communications with a Trump campaign aide and a Ukrainian businessman. - As Scott Pruitt, the E.P.A. chief, [announced his most sweeping regulatory rollback to date]( a plan to weaken President Barack Obama’s stringent rules on planet-warming tailpipe emissions, he found himself caught up in a swirl of allegations of impropriety. - The Trump administration [released a list]( of Chinese goods that it will subject to tariffs, including electronics, iron and steel plates, engines and optical scanners. The move is likely to inflame an already simmering trade war between the countries. — The First Draft Team HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL NEWS TIP? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn More »]( ADVERTISEMENT Subscriber Events D.C. | Wed. April 4, 6:45 p.m. [Sally Yates With Matt Apuzzo]( Join us for a conversation with Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general who was dismissed by President Trump last year after refusing to defend his first travel ban. Ms. Yates will discuss the independence of the judiciary, constitutional law, civil rights, criminal justice and prison reform with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Times reporter Matt Apuzzo, who has covered the Justice Department under five attorneys general and who has been at the forefront of covering the special counsel’s investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign. [• First Draft readers get 25% off with the code DRAFT. Get tickets »]( White House Memo [On Foreign Policy, President Trump Reverts to Candidate Trump]( By MARK LANDLER [President Trump's reversion to his campaign themes comes as he has reshuffled his national security team, ousting aides with more conventional views of American power in favor of more hawkish figures.]( President Trump's reversion to his campaign themes comes as he has reshuffled his national security team, ousting aides with more conventional views of American power in favor of more hawkish figures. Doug Mills/The New York Times President Trump has been commander in chief for 14 months, but to an uncanny degree, he still sounds like the armchair statesman who ran for the White House in 2016. “I want to get out,” Mr. Trump said of the United States’ military engagement in Syria, at a news conference on Tuesday with leaders of the Baltic states. “I want to bring our troops back home.” Mr. Trump’s words were at odds with the strategy his administration is pursuing in Syria. But they were almost verbatim what he said in pre-election tweets, as well as in debates two years ago against Republican challengers and his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Far from learning on the job or modifying his views to fit the imperatives of America’s global role — as did so many of his predecessors — Mr. Trump is falling back on the familiar mix of belligerence and isolationism that fueled his “America First” campaign. The NATO alliance, he said, is “delinquent.” Russia is a partner with whom, he insisted, “I think I could have a very good relationship.” The United States should have “kept the oil” after the American-led invasion of Iraq. Rather than pursuing military adventures abroad, he said: “I want to get back. I want to rebuild our nation.” [Read more »](  [Emma Brown last month at Lindsey Davis Stover’s home in McLean, Va. Ms. Brown, 24, Ms. Davis Stover’s campaign manager, was writing a “triage” list of things that needed to be dealt with that day.]( [Young Women Help Lead Campaigns to Success at the Polls]( By MICHAEL TACKETT Hillary Clinton’s stunning defeat in 2016 has prompted a record number of women to run for office. A new legion of young women running campaigns has followed. [President Trump and his legal team have been trying by various means to keep the pornographic film actress Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, from talking.]( [Porn Star’s Case Should Be Resolved Privately, Trump’s Lawyers Say]( By MAGGIE ASTOR AND JIM RUTENBERG President Trump and a company affiliated with him are seeking to force the actress Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, into arbitration, rather than face a public legal process. [The New York Times reporter Earl Caldwell and Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis shortly before the assassination on April 4, 1968.]( [The Lone Journalist on the Scene When King Was Shot]( Compiled by INSIDER STAFF Earl Caldwell made history before he wrote it on the night of April 4, 1968, when he reported firsthand on the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for The New York Times. [King Said Segregation Harms Us All. Environmental Research Shows He Was Right.]( By KENDRA PIERRE-LOUIS Both minority and white residents of racially divided communities are exposed to higher levels of pollution than those who live in more integrated areas. [Central American migrants in Mexico on Monday. President Trump has chastised Mexico for not preventing illegal immigration to the United States.]( Fact-check [A Twitter Rant That Rails and Misleads on Immigration Policy]( By LINDA QIU Three days of presidential tweets contained many false and misleading accusations. [Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, left, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, right, are debating oversight of the new $1.5 trillion tax law.]( [White House Turf Battle Threatens to Delay Tax Law Rollout]( By ALAN RAPPEPORT AND JIM TANKERSLEY The Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury Department are at odds over the Treasury’s longtime independence in writing tax regulations. [Stephanie and Michael Honig of Honig Vineyard and Winery in Napa Valley, who have worked to build a Chinese clientele. Mr. Honig said California wines were vulnerable in a trade war because “we are not a commodity.”]( [China Finds California Wine Pairs Well With a Trade War]( By NATALIE KITROEFF Retaliatory tariffs are a blow to exporters increasingly catering to young, newly wealthy Chinese looking for bottles with cachet. [The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said on Tuesday that 11.8 million people signed up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act for 2018, a slight drop from the previous year.]( [The Final Obamacare Tally: About 400,000 Fewer Signed Up for 2018]( By ABBY GOODNOUGH The drop in enrollment was smaller than many expected, given the Trump administration’s cutbacks in outreach and efforts to undermine the health law. [Connie Lawn in 2007. “I want to remain a viable part of this unfolding history as long as I can,” she said.]( [Independent White House Reporter Dies at 73]( By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK Connie Lawn built her nearly 50-year career at the White House without the consistent support of a major media company. [How U.S. Fuel Economy Standards Compare With the Rest of the World’s]( By BRAD PLUMER AND NADJA POPOVICH Several other countries have linked their fuel economy standards to the United States, so a rollback by the E.P.A. could affect rules across the planet. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. ADVERTISEMENT HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [washington-newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:washington-newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). 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