First Draft on Politics: High-Stakes Votes on Immigration

The House is most likely to vote on one hard-line immigration measure and another more moderate compromise bill. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, June 13, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [Speaker Paul D. Ryan last week in Washington. A closed-door negotiating session that brought together conservative and moderate factions in the House was held Tuesday.]( Speaker Paul D. Ryan last week in Washington. A closed-door negotiating session that brought together conservative and moderate factions in the House was held Tuesday. Tom Brenner/The New York Times Good Wednesday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - After a frenzied, late-night negotiation, Speaker Paul D. Ryan [defused a moderate Republican rebellion]( with a promise to hold high-stakes votes on immigration next week, thrusting the divisive issue onto center stage in the middle of an already difficult election season for Republicans. - In a day of personal diplomacy that began with a choreographed handshake and ended with a freewheeling news conference, President Trump [deepened his wager]( on Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, arguing that their rapport would bring the swift demise of that country’s nuclear program. Mr. Trump said he believed that Mr. Kim’s desire to end North Korea’s confrontation with the United States was sincere. - A federal judge approved the blockbuster merger between AT&T and Time Warner, [rebuffing the government’s effort]( to stop the $85.4 billion deal, in a decision that is expected to unleash a wave of corporate takeovers. The merger would create a media and telecommunications powerhouse, reshaping the landscape of those industries. - Corey Stewart, a hard-right activist who has faced intense scrutiny for his associations with white nationalist figures, [won the Republican Senate nomination in Virginia]( while Republican voters in South Carolina ousted Representative Mark Sanford in a House primary. Both results illustrated that fealty to Mr. Trump is paramount on the right. - At a hearing, Democratic senators [blistered Mr. Trump’s health secretary]( telling him that the Trump administration’s efforts to undo health insurance protections for people with pre-existing conditions made a mockery of the president’s campaign to rein in prescription drug prices. — 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 [The Upshot]( Get the best of The Upshot’s news, analysis and graphics about politics, policy and everyday life delivered to your inbox. [• Sign Up »]( News Analysis [Vague on Details, Trump Is Betting on ‘Special Bond’ With Kim to Deliver Deal]( By DAVID E. SANGER [President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, on Sentosa Island in Singapore on Tuesday.]( President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, on Sentosa Island in Singapore on Tuesday. Doug Mills/The New York Times On paper, there is nothing President Trump extracted from North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, in their [summit]( that Mr. Kim’s father and grandfather had not already given to past American presidents. In fact, he got less, at least for now. But as Mr. Trump made clear in a lengthy but vaguely worded [reconstruction of their five hours of talks]( none of that really matters to him. Instead, he is betting everything on the “terrific relationship” and “very special bond” that he said he developed with the 34-year-old dictator, and Mr. Trump’s seeming certainty that they now view the future elimination of North Korea’s arsenal of atomic weapons the same way. He swatted away suggestions that the phrase “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” [means something different in Pyongyang]( than it does in Washington. Mr. Trump may yet prove that this time is different. This entire venture in the steamy summer in Singapore, the beating capitalist heart of Southeast Asia, is based on his conclusion that past presidents got it backward. So he flew halfway around the world to meet the leader of one of the world’s most repressive nations on the theory that if he could win over the country’s leader with a vision of future wealth, North Korea will determine that it no longer needs its nuclear weapons. [Read more »](  [Officials leading a North American bid for soccer’s 2026 World Cup said letters from President Trump have reassured FIFA voters that the United States will allow entry to teams, officials and fans from any country. From left, Peter Montopoli of Canada, Carlos Cordeiro of the United States and Decio de María of Mexico.]( [How 3 Letters From Trump Might Help Bring the 2026 World Cup to the U.S.]( By ANDREW DAS Three previously undisclosed letters from President Trump to FIFA have reassured the organization’s members that all fans and teams would be welcome, regardless of American immigration policy. [Secretary of State Mike Pompeo watching the faux movie trailer President Trump had played for Kim Jung-un. The four-minute video imagined a peaceful and prosperous North Korea.]( [Trump Showed Kim a Faux Movie Trailer About a Transformed North Korea]( By PETER BAKER A four-minute video depicted the two leaders as heroes making history in a summer blockbuster. [President Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, after their lunch on Sentosa Island in Singapore.]( [Unscripted Moments Steal the Show at Trump-Kim Summit]( By MOTOKO RICH A peek inside the presidential limo, a joke about looking thin, a splashy video showing the benefits of peace. The political theatrics were riveting. [President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in Singapore on Tuesday.]( The Interpreter [What Happened in the Trump-Kim Meeting and Why It Matters]( By MAX FISHER Ten simple takeaways from President Trump’s summit meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. [The forceful ruling on Tuesday that favored AT&T’s proposed merger with Time Warner could make President Trump’s Justice Department reluctant to try to block other deals.]( DealBook [The Political Legacy of a Failed Challenge to the AT&T-Time Warner Deal]( By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN The Justice Department never should have opposed the AT&T-Time Warner merger. Now a chastened government might not intervene when it should. [Robert De Niro used an expletive to condemn President Trump while on stage at the 72nd Annual Tony Awards on Sunday.]( [Trump Blasts De Niro: ‘Wake Up Punchy!’]( By MAYA SALAM The actor Robert De Niro publicly insulted the president at the Tony Awards, where he used profanity on stage, and then at an event in Canada. [Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s carrying out of his immigration agenda has reignited a long-running debate about the independence of immigration judges.]( [Immigration Judges Fear That Sessions’s Policies Will Impede Their Work]( By KATIE BENNER The judges, who are part of the Justice Department, spoke of concerns that the attorney general’s hard-line immigration policies are interfering with due process. [President Trump told reporters after his meeting with Kim Jong-un that the two leaders had “decided to leave the past behind” and predicted that soon “the world will see a major change.”]( [Agreement in Singapore Fills Congress With Distrust]( By NICHOLAS FANDOS Lawmakers from both parties reacted to the pronouncements with skepticism, with some Republicans saying any final accord on North Korea’s nuclear program should be submitted to the Senate for ratification. [Larry Kudlow and President Trump on Saturday at the Group of 7 meeting in Canada.]( [Larry Kudlow, Trump Adviser, Recovering After Heart Attack, Friends Say]( By JIM TANKERSLEY The director of President Trump’s National Economic Council is expected to return to the job after recovering. [Peter Navarro, a top Trump administration trade official, apologized on Tuesday for his sharp words about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.]( [Navarro Apologizes for ‘Special Place in Hell’ Comments About Trudeau]( By ALAN RAPPEPORT Peter Navarro, one of President Trump’s top trade advisers, said his verbal attack against Canada’s prime minister was a “mistake.” [President Trump, in Singapore on Tuesday.]( Fact Check of the Day [With Misleading Claims, Trump Dismisses 1994 North Korea Nuclear Deal]( By LINDA QIU After his meeting with Kim Jong-un, President Trump said that North Korea “took billions of dollars” during the Clinton administration for “nothing.” Neither claim is true. [Amazon’s glass spheres in Seattle are part of a wave of development in the city by the company. Amazon is the city’s largest employer with more than 45,000 local workers.]( [Seattle Officials Repeal Tax That Upset Amazon]( By DAVID STREITFELD AND CLAIRE BALLENTINE The Seattle City Council repealed the tax in a 7-to-2 vote that was accompanied by acrimony and accusations. Less than a month ago, it had passed unanimously. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. And consider [subscribing to get unlimited access to nytimes.com and our apps.]( 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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