First Draft on Politics: Trump Sows More Confusion

“I let him know we can’t have this,” President Trump said in an interview with “CBS Evening News.” “We’re not going to have it, and that’s the way it’s going to be.” View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, July 19, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [President Trump, flanked by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said no president had ever been as tough on Russia.] President Trump, flanked by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said no president had ever been as tough on Russia. Image by Tom Brenner for The New York Times Good Thursday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - President Trump sowed even more confusion over his recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, insisting after a day of conflicting statements about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election that [he had actually laid down the law]( with Mr. Putin. - Weeks before taking office, Mr. Trump [was shown highly classified intelligence]( indicating that Mr. Putin had ordered the election meddling, but he has done all he can to suggest other possible explanations. - A Russian accused of being a covert agent [pursued a brazen effort to influence powerful Republicans]( while secretly in contact with Russian intelligence operatives, a senior Russian official and a billionaire close to the Kremlin, prosecutors say. - The Trump administration said it was starting an investigation into uranium imports, potentially [opening another front in a trade war]( that has shaken alliances with countries around the world. - In Syria, a New York Times reporter was given a rare tour of makeshift prisons for Islamic State suspects from nearly 50 countries. Their home countries have been reluctant to take the men back, [a dilemma that has no easy solution]( and is growing urgent. - [See what’s coming up next on the primary calendar »]( — 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 »]( State of the Art [How to Combat China’s Rise in Tech: Federal Spending, Not Tariffs]( By FARHAD MANJOO Doug Chayka At the heart of the trade war between the United States and China lies a profound and unsettling question: Who should control the key technologies that will rule tomorrow? It is unsettling because, right now, the trade war offers a dead-end choice. On one side, a handful of gigantic American corporations look destined to become the major players in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and advanced manufacturing and energy technologies. Or it could be a slightly larger handful of gigantic American and Chinese corporations, with healthy input from the Chinese government. These advances could alter everything about how we live and work. Shouldn’t some other entity, like maybe a democratically elected government, have some say in their rollout? [Read more >>](  [Representative Martha Roby at her victory party in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday night.]( [After Roby’s Primary Win, Here’s How Pro- and Anti-Trump Republicans Are Faring]( By MAGGIE ASTOR One question Republican campaigns face this year: whether to embrace President Trump or to oppose him. Martha Roby of Alabama is not the only candidate for whom it’s been a major issue. [Representative Dana Rohrabacher celebrated with his supporters in Costa Mesa while waiting for results in last month’s congressional primary.]( California Today [Will a Representative’s Views on Russia Affect His Re-election Campaign?]( By JENNIFER MEDINA AND INYOUNG KANG Dana Rohrabacher’s Russia ties are scrutinized, Highway 1 reopens and critics praise “Blindspotting” and its portrayal of a friendship in Oakland. [The Swiss pharmaceutical company’s decision to freeze prices this year comes amid a groundswell of criticism over steep drug pricing in the United States.]( [Bowing to Trump, Novartis Joins Pfizer in Freezing Drug Prices]( By KATIE THOMAS The move comes as drug companies scramble to show they are responding to criticism about their rising prices, including from Mr. Trump. [President Trump’s operation has run dozens of ads on Facebook recently that seek to rally support to confirm Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the vacant spot on the Supreme Court.]( [The Biggest Spender of Political Ads on Facebook? Trump]( By SHEERA FRENKEL A new study based on Facebook data provides a picture of who is placing political ads on the social network ahead of the midterm elections. Mr. Trump tops the list. [Kathleen Kraninger, President Trump’s choice to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is expected to take a much more business-friendly approach to consumer protection than many Democrats would like.]( [Consumer Bureau Nominee Could Face ‘Bumpy Ride’ Over Lack of Experience]( By ALAN RAPPEPORT Kathleen Kraninger, who has little experience with the consumer finance products and businesses that the watchdog agency was created to police, will be grilled by lawmakers on Thursday. Fact Check of the Day [Kudlow Overstates American, Chinese and European Tariffs]( By LINDA QIU Larry Kudlow, Mr. Trump’s top economic adviser, cherry-picked and exaggerated statistics about Chinese and European tariffs and claimed that the United States is the world’s “lowest-tariff country.” [A labor protest in New York last month on the day the Supreme Court struck down mandatory union fees for government workers. A legal campaign to force public-sector unions to refund fees already paid by nonmembers is underway in several states.]( [Trump Nominee Is Behind Anti-Union Legal Campaign]( By NOAM SCHEIBER A conservative lawyer chosen to head a federal agency has spent months bringing cases that could bankrupt public-employee unions in several states. [Brian Kemp, Georgia’s secretary of state, was the runner-up in the first round of primary voting in May. He will face Casey Cagle, the state’s lieutenant governor, in a runoff on Tuesday.]( [Trump Endorses Kemp Over Cagle in Georgia Governor’s Race]( By ALEXANDER BURNS Either Brian Kemp, Georgia’s secretary of state, or Casey Cagle, its lieutenant governor, will face Stacey Abrams in the November election. [Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, served as Ohio State University’s assistant wrestling coach in the late 1980s and early 1990s.]( [Two Lawsuits Against Ohio State Keep Lawmaker in the Cross-Hairs]( By CATIE EDMONDSON The suits say school officials covered up sexual abuse by a team doctor; one mentions Representative Jim Jordan, who has denied that he ignored such misconduct. [Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, at a briefing on Wednesday. When she tried to stop a follow-up question from Hallie Jackson of NBC News by calling on Jordan Fabian of The Hill, Mr. Hill deferred to Ms. Jackson.]( [Reporters, Facing a Hostile White House, Try a New Tactic: Solidarity]( By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM At a West Wing briefing, a reporter from The Hill ceded the floor to an NBC correspondent as Sarah Huckabee Sanders tried to move things along. 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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