Trump’s White House aides deliver mixed messages on sanctions
Anthony Scaramucci on Sunday, July 23, 2017, tells CNN's "State of the Union" that Trump doesn't necessarily accept the U.S. intelligence community's consensus that Russia meddled in the election. Credit: CNN / "State of the Union"
Mixed Messages
Newly appointed White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, a Long Island native and former Trump campaign surrogate, made his debut on the Sunday morning talk show circuit, vowing to overhaul the White House’s messaging strategy.
“There’s obviously a communications problem,” Scaramucci told CNN’s “State of the Union,” where he added, “I just think we need to deliver the messaging a little bit differently than we’ve been doing it in the past.”
Scaramucci’s call for a revamped communications strategy came as he and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave differing accounts, in separate TV interviews, about the president’s next move regarding sanctions on Russia.
Next steps on sanctions
Sanders indicated Sunday that Donald Trump would sign bipartisan legislation expanding sanctions on Russia, though Scaramucci separately said the president hasn’t yet made a decision, report Newsday’s Emily Ngo and David M. Schwartz.
The compromise legislation would limit the president’s power to roll back or stop sanctions, which are aimed at punishing Russia for attempting to interfere in the 2016 election.
On ABC News’ “This Week,” Sanders said Trump backs congressional measures to further penalize Russia.
“The administration is supportive of being tough on Russia, particularly in putting these sanctions in place,” Sanders said. “We support where the legislation is now.”
Scaramucci was less definitive, telling CNN’s “State of the Union”: “He hasn’t made the decision yet to sign that bill one way or the other.”
Pardon me?
Despite Trump’s tweeting on Saturday that he “has the complete power to pardon,” Scaramucci said his boss “is thinking about pardoning nobody.”
“He doesn’t need to pardon anybody,” Scaramucci told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Trump’s tweets, and Scaramucci’s defense of them, follow a report Thursday by The Washington Post citing sources that said Trump has asked his legal advisers about his authority to pardon aides, family members and himself as the Justice Department presses ahead with its probe into the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia.
Repeal vote on Tuesday
Senate Republican leaders have vowed to schedule a Tuesday procedural vote to repeal the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act, even as some lawmakers say they’re not sure which version of the House or Senate GOP health care proposals will come before them.
“It appears we’ll have a vote on Tuesday, but we don’t know whether we’ll be voting on the House bill, the first version of the Senate bill, the second version of the Senate bill,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.
Lackluster support for two versions of a Senate Republican health care bill led to the proposals being shelved, and several Senate Republicans have balked at the House’s health care proposal.
Trump issued a warning via tweet Sunday night: “If Republicans don’t Repeal and Replace the disastrous ObamaCare, the repercussions will be far greater than any of them understand!”
The take-away: 6-month score card
Newsday’s Dan Janison examines Trump’s record at the halfway mark of the president’s first year in office.
While the federal government, “remains more or less the same entity as before,” with no dramatic changes on the scale that Trump promised on the campaign trail, Janison notes, “the political spectacle is unparalleled.”
What else is happening
- Donald Trump Jr., who is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, has added D.C.-based attorney Karina Lynch to his legal team, according to Fox News.
- Democrats plan to release their new economic plan this week as a counterpoint to the Trump administration’s agenda. Dubbed “A Better Deal,” it seeks to improve the party’s standing among the working-class voters it lost to Trump last year.
- What can Trump do to lift his sagging poll numbers? Politico offers an interactive web feature that lets users adjust the president’s approval ratings among different voter groups to gauge how those numbers might impact his overall approval ratings.
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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