First Draft on Politics: Trump at the U.N.

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, September 18, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [President Trump arriving in New Jersey on Friday. One of his primary tasks at the United Nations this coming week will be to define how his America First approach fits into the United Nations’ world-first mission.]( President Trump arriving in New Jersey on Friday. One of his primary tasks at the United Nations this coming week will be to define how his America First approach fits into the United Nations’ world-first mission. Doug Mills/The New York Times Good Monday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - [All eyes will be on President Trump]( this week at his first United Nations General Assembly as international leaders take the measure of him. - Mr. Trump’s legal team [is wrestling with how much to cooperate with the special counsel]( looking into Russian election interference, an internal debate that led to an angry confrontation last week between two White House lawyers and that could shape the course of the investigation. - The Trump administration [is considering closing]( the recently reopened United States Embassy in Havana after 21 Americans associated with the embassy experienced a host of unexplained health problems. - In a series of Twitter posts, [Mr. Trump shared an animation]( of him hitting a golf ball into Hillary Clinton’s back and another that appeared to refer to Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, as Rocket Man. - Despite a long record of intelligence warnings, [there is no evidence that Washington has ever moved]( with urgency to cut off Pyongyang’s access to a rocket fuel. — 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 New Washington Podcast [Senator Chuck Schumer]( The Democratic leader of the Senate is riding a political high, days after striking a deal with President Trump in the Oval Office on government funding and the debt limit, much to the chagrin of his Republican counterparts. He spoke with Carl Hulse about how the whole thing went down and what it might mean for the future of bipartisan governing. Mediator [Facebook Knows More About Russia’s Election Meddling. Shouldn’t We?]( By JIM RUTENBERG [A Facebook mural on the company's campus in 2014. Facebook is under fire for running ads purchased by fake users trying to cause disruption in the American electorate.]( A Facebook mural on the company's campus in 2014. Facebook is under fire for running ads purchased by fake users trying to cause disruption in the American electorate. Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Here’s what we know, so far, about Facebook’s [recent disclosure]( that a shadowy Russian firm with ties to the Kremlin created thousands of ads on the social media platform that ran before, during and after the 2016 presidential election: The ads “appeared to focus on amplifying divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum,” including race, immigration and gun rights, [Facebook said](. The users who purchased the ads were fakes. Attached to [assumed identities]( their pages are believed to have been created by digital guerrilla marketers from Russia hawking information meant to disrupt the American electorate and sway a presidential election. Some of those ads were pushed out to very specific parts of the country, presumably for maximum political effect. Facebook has identified some 2,000 other ads that may have been of Russian provenance, although, as [CNN reported]( last week, it can’t rule out that there might be far more than that. [Read more about what we don’t know, at least not directly from Facebook »](  [Sean Spicer Joins Stephen Colbert at the Emmys]( By DANIEL VICTOR The former White House press secretary poked fun at himself in an Emmy bit, but some critics were not ready to laugh along. [President Trump with Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, last month.]( [When U.N. Envoy Nikki Haley Talks, Does President Trump Listen?]( By SOMINI SENGUPTA Ms. Haley has cast herself as someone who can sway President Trump on important foreign policy issues — including the value of the United Nations itself. This week will test her influence. [The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has found itself in the middle of a fraught debate over the Obama administration’s legacy in Syria after withdrawing a study of the issue.]( [The Holocaust Museum Sought Lessons on Syria. What It Got Was a Political Backlash.]( By SOPAN DEB AND MAX FISHER The Holocaust Museum has found itself in the middle of a fraught debate over the Obama administration’s legacy in Syria after withdrawing research. [A Juggalo who called himself Lunchbox at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday. The group was protesting its classification as a gang.]( [Juggalos on the Mall? Just Another Weekend of Washington Protests]( By EMILY BAUMGAERTNER A Saturday filled with protests seemed a potentially combustible mix, but clashes were limited to a few harsh words exchanged near some porta-potties, and the city went about its business. Right and Left: Partisan Writing You Shouldn’t Miss Read about how the other side thinks. We have collected political writing from around the web and across ideologies. From the Right [David Barulich]( in [The Federalist]( “With a stroke of his pen, Trump could simply direct the I.R.S. to favor American businesses that hire persons legally permitted to work in the U.S. This policy of Affirmative Wage Deduction (AWD) would cause an instant exodus of undocumented immigrants, potentially recoup billions of dollars in federal tax subsidies, and turn off the employment magnet that now draws thousands of illegal immigrants to breach our borders.” Mr. Barulich finds an alternative to passing immigration policy changes through the legislative process by looking to the tax code. With specificity, he offers regulatory efforts that he argues would lead to “millions of illegal immigrants employed in the hospitality, meatpacking, agriculture, construction, and garment industries” being “replaced by citizens.” His prescriptive pitch: “The president should stop blaming Congress for inaction on the concrete wall. He should keep his promise to his supporters and sign an executive order to create this ‘big, beautiful digital wall.’” [Continue reading the main story]( [Read more »]( _____ From the Left The editorial board of [The Los Angeles Times]( “Trump should set aside his insistence on his silly wall — which even many of his fellow Republicans dismiss as unnecessary and excessively costly — and put the well being of the Dreamers ahead of his ill-advised campaign promises.” The editorial board makes their point pretty plainly: “We hope the president and leaders of both parties in Congress can find a way to make this work.” They cite fairness and allude to public polling that indicates that “most of the American people” agree with a path to citizenship for this cohort. They point out that “these are people, after all, who often have spent little time in the country where they were born, speak only English and have been brought up as Americans. To qualify for DACA protections, they had to be in school or have graduated or to have been in the military.” [Read more »]( _____ [More selections »]( 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). FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@NYTPolitics]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »](  | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's First Draft newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018