President's reactions to murder, meddling bear a resemblance

POTUS, Putin and the prince

For President Donald Trump, the matter of how to treat the Saudi government has echoes of the U.S.-Russia dilemma. The president keeps expressing reluctance to disbelieve denials of wrongdoing from strongmen-in-charge — in one case about a killing and in the other instance about election trickery. And yet, the U.S. is taking part in punitive action against the Saudis as it is with Russia.

U.S. and European sanctions have been imposed on Saudi Arabia following the reported murder, with high-level approval, of dissident Jamal Khashoggi in an embassy compound in Turkey.

Arms & armor

There is also new pressure on the Saudis to reach a cease-fire that would relieve ongoing carnage and starvation in Yemen, where the Saudi kingdom fights to suppress a local rebellion.

One day after Trump said he didn't need to hear the audio recording of the Khashoggi assassination, Germany took punitive steps including disapproval of any new weapons sales to the government of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom the CIA blames for the hit. World oil prices emerged as an issue.

And as they did with Russian President Vladimir Putin, congressional Republicans are taking a harder line than Trump on the foreign front.

Another in-vet-erate slam

Trump wasn't letting go Monday of the latest of his many verbal onslaughts against decorated career military figures who openly question his conduct.

Retired Adm. William McRaven, a former Navy SEAL who earnestly cited Trump's media attacks as a threat to democracy, was treated to some false presidential allegations when Trump tauntingly called him a supporter of Hillary Clinton, which apparently he wasn't.

Trump clung to his claim over the weekend of how the 2011 Osama bin Laden raid led by McRaven should or could have been done sooner. In fact, in a book published under his name in 2000, Trump suggested bin Laden really wasn't America's No. 1 enemy. His venomous attacks are of course part of a chronic Trumpian pattern.

But Ivanka's emails ...

Ivanka Trump sent hundreds of emails last year to White House aides, Cabinet officials and assistants from a private account — many in violation of federal records rules, The Washington Post reported Monday.

This despite the fact that her father in his 2016 campaign railed against Clinton for doing the same thing, replete with name-calling about dishonesty. Through much of 2017, Ivanka Trump often discussed or relayed official White House business using a private email account with a domain that she shares with her husband, Jared Kushner, the Post said.

So far, there have been no chants of "lock her up."

Cave-in to CNN

CNN dropped its lawsuit against the White House after officials let it be known they'd restore reporter Jim Acosta’s credentials. A reported face-saving condition is that he abides by new rules at news conferences, but the network said in a statement: "We look forward to continuing to cover the White House.” Newsday's Candice Ferrette describes the decision and the court case leading up to it.

No worries, says Mueller

Trump's pick of Russiagate denier Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general does not affect special counsel Robert Mueller's eligibility to head the probe, Mueller’s team said in a court filing cited by The Washington Post.

The special counsel’s office was responding to a question from the U.S. Court of Appeals panel in a case brought by Andrew Miller, an associate of Roger Stone, the self-professed dirty trickster and longtime Trump adviser. The lawsuit claims Mueller's job is unconstitutional.

Trump's lawyers meanwhile set an informal Thanksgiving deadline to submit his written answers to the Mueller probe, Politico reported. At the same time, Democrats are suing to block Whitaker from the position.

What else is happening:

• The U.S. slashed the number of migrants allowed to cross the southern border to apply for asylum, The Wall Street Journal reports.
• Debate continues over whether Trump can act on his own to end birthright citizenship. But despite pre-election vows he has yet to issue an executive order to do so.
• Sixteen Democrats elected to House seats signed a letter opposing leader Nancy Pelosi's bid to return as speaker.
• Broward County, Florida, election supervisor Brenda Snipes has finally quit after the nationally watched blunderfest surrounding the midterm elections.
• Trump was trolled online by Twitter users in Finland for his latest inexplicable remarks about how forest fires are averted there.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.