Trump's faces a test of his ability to ride a hot economy to re-election

Economy could trump Trump

Lowest unemployment in 50 years. The United States adding jobs for a record 103 consecutive months. And in July, the economic expansion would become the longest on record, reports The New York Times.

Is it enough?

President Donald Trump hasn't been able to crack a 50 percent approval rating, but the robust economy, if it remains strong, "could be Mr. Trump’s best argument as he tries to replicate his narrow path to victory in the Electoral College in 2016," The Times said.

That could be particularly true in places like Wisconsin, which Trump narrowly won in 2016 by 22,000 votes.

With 21 Democrats running for their party's nomination, the candidates could also be pummeled for moving to the left.

And Republicans are hoping that a strong economy might allow voters to overlook personal peccadilloes.

As the White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, said in the backhanded compliment of the month, "People will vote for somebody they don’t like if they think it’s good for them.”

Janison: Who you callin' tetchy?

Dan Janison writes that Donald Trump Jr. sounded "more than a bit overwrought" over the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee's continued probe into Russia's meddling in our last election, including a subpoena of the president's son.

Of the attacks on committee chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Janison writes, "If this isn't contempt of Congress, it does show just a bit of entitled contempt for GOP congressional oversight."

While the probe could muddle the "no exoneration" narrative, for now, it shows the Senate isn't yet willing to give up oversight and doesn't want to appear to be "coddling Russian propaganda in Americans' internet feeds."

Meet you at the Barr

You gotta serve somebody, as Bob Dylan noted. How about Attorney General William Barr?

Is the position "the president’s defender-in-chief, or is the office holder solely duty bound to the American public he or she was tapped to represent?" writes Laura Figueroa Hernandez.

She dives into the question and the history, and finds, "There has been a long-standing tradition that the Justice Department runs its investigations independent of the Oval Office, to prevent the politicization of the nation’s top law enforcement agency."

"It’s extremely a major violation of the norms for the president to come in and say 'prosecute so and so,'" said Nancy V. Baker, author of "Conflicting Loyalties: Law and Politics in the Attorney General's Office."

Tariff trauma

Increased tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods took effect Friday. China retaliated with $60 billion worth of its own charges, as expected. 

Not to worry. China would pay to the Treasury, Trump said erroneously.

“Talks with China continue in a very congenial manner,” Trump tweeted on Friday. “There is absolutely no need to rush — as Tariffs are NOW being paid to the United States by China of 25% on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods & products. These massive payments go directly to the Treasury of the U.S.”

Dow futures pointed to a 500-point drop at the market open on Monday.

The usual disconnect

On Sunday, President Trump's chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow contradicted the presidential claims that the tariffs were payments China would send to the U.S. Treasury, armed with either a dictionary or Intro to Economics class. 

Kudlow acknowledged U.S. consumers and businesses would pay a portion of the tariffs.

“In fact, both sides will pay,” Kudlow said in an interview on Fox News. “Both sides will pay in these things.”

Kudlow argued the U.S. economy could handle any negative effects, better than the Chinese economy.

“You got to do what you got to do,” Mr. Kudlow said. “In my judgment, the economic consequences are so small but the possible improvement in trade, and exports, and open market for the United States — this is worthwhile doing.”

Seeking compensation

Trump pressed his "official" Twitter account into service early Monday with a series of messages clearly aimed to compensate for doubts and worries about his trade war.

With varying degrees of accustomed inaccuracy, he claimed tariffs are a great contributing force to gross domestic product expansion and tried to portray Democrat Joseph Biden as a dupe for China the way Trump critics depict the president as a dupe for Russia's Vladimir Putin. 

After drawing static for the White House's "Boston Red Socks" and "World Cup Series" gaffes, Trump even tried to share credit for the team's success on the field. Red Sox manager Alex Cora boycotted a recent Trump event over the alleged short-changing of aid to Puerto Rico.

Under pressure over bad approval ratings, he also threw verbal bouquets to his media publicists at OANN and Fox. And of course he moaned about Democrats in general.

What else is happening:

• Are Republican lawyers the referees we need? Conservative lawyers are suddenly speaking out about abuse of power, says the Los Angeles Times.
• The Wall Street Journal looks inside the collapsed trade talks.
• Russians sowing discord, chaos, stoking unproven fears, this time on unproven negative health effects from 5G technology.
• If there wasn't a sense that just about anyone could grow up to be president before, mayors watching the meteoric rise of "Mayor Pete" — head of the fourth-largest city in Indiana — are feeling some envy.

By David M. Schwartz

dschwar1@newsday.com,dan.janison@newsday.comschwartznewsNY,

David Schwartz covers environmental issues. A native Long Islander, he's worked at Newsday since 2013.