* Carol E. Lee, Courtney Kube, Kristen Welker, and Stephanie Ruhle report that John Kelly’s relationship with President Trump just couldn’t be better, and he has great respect for his boss:
White House chief of staff John Kelly has eroded morale in the West Wing in recent months with comments to aides that include insulting the president’s intelligence and casting himself as the savior of the country, according to eight current and former White House officials.
The officials said Kelly portrays himself to Trump administration aides as the lone bulwark against catastrophe, curbing the erratic urges of a president who has a questionable grasp on policy issues and the functions of government. He has referred to Trump as “an idiot” multiple times to underscore his point, according to four officials who say they’ve witnessed the comments.
In other words, Kelly sees him in pretty much the same way everyone else does?
“There is still a lot of thinking on the right that if big corporations are happy, they’re going to take the money they’re saving and reinvest it in American workers,” he says. “In fact they bought back shares, a few gave out bonuses; there’s no evidence whatsoever that the money’s been massively poured back into the American worker.”
That’s Marco Rubio saying that! A Republican! I mean, it’s 100 percent true, but still shocking to hear him say it.
* Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Prentice report that the EPA gave Trump buddy Carl Icahn a waiver worth millions of dollars exempting him from biofuels standards on an oil refinery he owns.
* Sarah Fitzpatrick and Tracy Connor report that Stormy Daniels has filed a defamation suit against President Trump for a tweet he sent about her.
* Molly Roberts explains why Michelle Wolf got it just right in her performance.
* James Downie asks a good question: Why is Wolf getting so much criticism when the things that Trump said at a rally in Michigan on the same night were far more outrageous?
* Matthew Barakat reports that newly released documents show that George Mason University officials gave the Charles Koch Foundation a say in the hiring and firing of faculty in exchange for millions of dollars in donations.
* David Weigel reports that Democrats in governor’s races are having serious, substantive fights over what the party stands for, which cuts against the claim we keep hearing that Democrats only stand for not being Trump.
* David Drucker reports that the Missouri Senate race may be slipping away from Republicans. This kind of thing matters, because holding these red state seats will be crucial to any Dem chances of winning the Senate.
* Cristina Tzintzún and Manuel Pastor argue that Democrats can turn the Southwest blue if they find a way to energize young Latinos.