Josh Dawsey

Inside a private portal from GOP campaigns to local news sites

The top Republican campaigns in Illinois used a private online portal to request stories and shape coverage in a network of media outlets that present themselves as local newspapers. Screenshots show that the password-protected portal, called Lumen, allowed users to pitch stories; provide interview subjects as well as questions; place announcements and submit op-eds to be “published verbatim” in any of about 30 sites that form part of the Illinois-focused media network, called Local Government Information Services.

President Trump signs order to protect US networks from foreign espionage, a move that appears to target China

Amid a deepening trade war with China, President Donald Trump declared a “national emergency” to protect US communications networks in a move that gives the federal government broad powers to bar American companies from doing business with certain foreign suppliers — including the Chinese firm Huawei. President Trump declared the emergency in the form of an executive order that says foreign adversaries are exploiting vulnerabilities in US telecommunications technology and services. It points to economic and industrial espionage as areas of particular concern.

President Trump to make prime-time address, visit US-Mexico border amid shutdown stalemate

President Donald Trump is ramping up his efforts to make a public case for his border wall as the partial government shutdown is now in its third week, planning a prime-time address Jan 8 and a visit to the border Jan 10. Some Democrats responded to the news of Trump’s address with concern that he would mislead the American people about the situation at the border.

Ivanka Trump used a personal email account to send hundreds of emails about government business

In 2017, Ivanka Trump sent hundreds of emails to White House aides, Cabinet officials and her assistants using a personal account, many of them in violation of federal records rules. White House ethics officials learned of Trump’s repeated use of personal email when reviewing emails gathered by five Cabinet agencies to respond to a public records lawsuit.

White House distances itself from reports that President Trump could target Facebook, Google and Twitter with a new executive order

The White House sought to dis­tance it­self from re­ports that President Donald Trump is con­sid­er­ing an ex­ec­u­tive ord­er that would sub­ject tech giants like Facebook, Goo­gle and Twitter to federal in­ves­ti­gat­ions into al­leged po­lit­i­cal bias. For weeks, top tech com­panies have been on edge, fear­ing that the Trump ad­min­is­tra­tion could seek to regu­late the in­dus­try in re­sponse to the president’s tweets at­tack­ing so­cial media sites for si­len­cing con­ser­va­tives online.

President Trump: Justice Department should investigate anonymous op-ed author

President Donald Trump called for the Justice Department to investigate the anonymous author of an op-ed depicting a “resistance” inside the government and said he is considering taking legal action against the New York Times for publishing it. The column, published online Sept 5, was written by someone the Times identified only as a senior official in the Trump administration. “We’re going to take a look at what he had, what he gave, what he’s talking about, also where he is right now,” President Trump told reporters.

President Trump personally pushed postmaster general to double rates on Amazon, other firms

Apparently, President Donald Trump has personally pushed US Postmaster General Megan Brennan to double the rate the Postal Service charges Amazon.com and other firms to ship packages, a dramatic move that probably would cost these companies billions of dollars. Brennan has so far resisted Trump’s demand, explaining in multiple conversations occurring in 2018 and last that these arrangements are bound by contracts and must be reviewed by a regulatory commission, apparently.

Trump’s must-see TV: Judge Jeanine’s show and her positive take on the president

President Donald Trump and Chief of Staff John F. Kelly do not regularly give on-the-record interviews. But both men recently sat down with Jeanine Pirro, the fiery Fox News host whom President Trump adores, for her upcoming book on the Trump presidency. The White House communications shop arranged the 30-minute interview with Pirro and the chief of staff in the West Wing, two White House officials said. Trump gave her an even longer interview, one of these officials said. The president has also encouraged other advisers to interview with Pirro, officials said.

President Trump lawyer seeks to block insider book on White House

A lawyer representing President Donald Trump sought to stop the publication of a new behind-the-scenes book about the White House that has already led President Trump to angrily decry his former chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon. The legal notice — addressed to author Michael Wolff and the president of the book’s publisher — said President Trump’s lawyers were pursuing possible charges including libel in connection with the forthcoming book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.” The letter by Beverly Hills-based attorney Charles J.

President Trump weighs downsizing Spicer’s public role

Apparently, President Donald Trump is considering scaling back White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s public role, as President Trump also weighs a broader shakeup of his communications shop in the wake of several scandals. The press secretary, who has turned into a household name over the past five months and garnered sky-high television ratings for his daily press briefings, has also drawn the ire of the president. He is no longer expected to do a daily, on-camera briefing after President Trump’s foreign trip, which begins May 19.

Kushner: We struck deal with Sinclair for straighter coverage

Donald Trump's campaign struck a deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group during the campaign to try and secure better media coverage, his son-in-law Jared Kushner told business executives.

Kushner said the agreement with Sinclair, which owns television stations across the country in many swing states and often packages news for their affiliates to run, gave them more access to Trump and the campaign. In exchange, Sinclair would broadcast their Trump interviews across the country without commentary, Kushner said. Kushner highlighted that Sinclair, in states like Ohio, reaches a much wider audience — around 250,000 listeners — than networks like CNN, which reach somewhere around 30,000. Kushner told the business executives that the campaign was upset with CNN because they considered its on-air panels stacked against Trump. He added that he personally talked with Jeff Zucker about changing the composition of the panels but Zucker refused. He repeatedly said in the panel that CNN wasn't "moving the needle" and wasn't important as it once was. The campaign then decided not to work as closely with CNN, and Trump ramped up his bashing of the cable network. He also told the crowd that Google and Facebook are now more powerful, and that The New York Times and CNN aren't as powerful.