Lawmaker resigns after details emerge of offer to aid

Seeking a shutdown solution, President Donald Trump was expected to announce Saturday that in exchange for money for his promised U.S.-Mexico border wall he was open to trading protections for young people brought to America illegally as children. Democrats have previously rejected such a deal and it was not clear whether Trump's offer would make headway Trump planned a speech from the White House Diplomatic Reception Room at 4 p.m. His emerging proposal was confirmed by three people familiar with his thinking. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the plans before his remarks and spoke on condition of anonymity. President Mike Pence, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney have been working on the proposals, according to one of the people. Thousands more migrant families may have been separated than the government initially reported, a watchdog group said, possibly due to ongoing problems keeping track of children. (Published Thursday, Jan. … [Read more...] about Trump Expected to Make New Shutdown Offer to Democrats: Sources

President Donald Trump sought to break the government shutdown impasse Saturday, offering to extend protections for young people brought to the country illegally as children, if Democrats give him $5.7 billion for his long-promised border wall. But Democrats dismissed the offer as a non-starter, calling on Trump to re-open the government first. Speaking from the White House, Trump said he was offering a "commonsense compromise both parties should embrace." In advance of Trump's remarks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the expected proposal for ending the 29-day partial government shutdown was "a compilation of several previously rejected initiatives, each of which is unacceptable." The California Democrat said Trump's expected offer was "not a good-faith effort" to help the immigrants and could not pass the House. Trump said he would extend protections for young people brought to the country illegally as children, as well as for those with temporary protected status after fleeing … [Read more...] about Trump Offers ‘Dreamers’-for-Border-Money Proposal; Dems Opposed

With Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve. THE BIG IDEA:  Those who don’t learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. That’s what the United States keeps doing in Syria. In 1950, Secretary of State Dean Acheson gave a speech implying that the Korean Peninsula was outside of the core defense perimeter of the United States. Though not intended, this sent a signal that America was abandoning South Korea. That helped provoke a war with fallout we're still managing today. Barack Obama made one of the gravest blunders of his presidency when he declared in 2012 that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against civilians would cross a “red line” and bring “enormous consequences.” When hundreds were killed by a gas attack the next year, he planned to launch missiles but blinked when the Brits balked. After Obama punted the decision to a Congress that dithered, an emboldened Assad escalated his barbaric … [Read more...] about The Daily 202: Trump gets schooled in Syria on how much his words matter

Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. SUBSCRIBE WASHINGTON — After a year spent carefully cultivating two princes from the Arabian Peninsula, Elliott Broidy, a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, thought he was finally close to nailing more than $1 billion in business. He had ingratiated himself with crown princes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who were seeking to alter U.S. foreign policy and punish Qatar, an archrival in the Gulf that he dubbed "the snake." To do that, the California businessman had helped spearhead a secret campaign to influence the White House and Congress, flooding Washington with political donations. Broidy and his business partner, Lebanese-American George Nader, pitched themselves to the crown princes as a backchannel to the White House, passing the princes' praise — and messaging — straight to the president's ears. Now, in December 2017, Broidy … [Read more...] about AP investigation: A Trump fundraiser’s secret lobbying effort to win $1B in business

George Nader poses backstage with President Donald Trump at a Republican fundraiser in Dallas, Texas, October 25, 2017. AP Elliott Broidy a top fundraiser for President Donald Trump, and George Nader, Broidy's business partner, pitched themselves and pushed the interests of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to the White House. The two pushed for anti-Qatar policies at the highest levels of government, and expected large consulting contracts from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The gist of their plan was to show evidence that Qatar was too close to Iran and supported Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood. Broidy and Nader tried to persuade the US government to sanction Qatar and move a key military base from Qatar to another location in the Gulf. Nader's connection to UAE's Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and defense contract mogul Erik Prince eventually caught the attention of US investigators in the Russia probe. He had ingratiated himself with crown princes from … [Read more...] about How a top Trump fundraiser spent a year cultivating 2 crown princes to nail $1 billion in business