Vox Sentences: Is Jared Kushner the new Steve Bannon?

Bannon, you’re fired (from the NSC); the chemical attack in Syria puts a spotlight on Russia; O’Reilly’s sexual harassment cases cost Fox News money — but not Trump’s support.

Demotions and promotions in Trump’s White House

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

• News broke today that President Trump removed chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council. [Reuters / Steve Holland, John Walcott]
• Bannon is the highest-powered ideologue in the Trump administration — an unapologetic “economic nationalist” who dabbles in straight-up white nationalism to boot. So his demotion from the council is probably good news to anyone who doesn’t want to see those ideas embodied in American national security policy. [Vox / Zack Beauchamp]
• Since Bannon had no qualifying experience for the position to begin with — and his (highly untraditional) elevation to the council squeezed off more qualified members — this move restores the NSC’s traditional power balance, to boot. [Vox / Yochi Dreazen]
• It’s likely that National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster (who replaced Trump ally Michael Flynn in February, when Flynn resigned over inappropriate contacts with the Russian government) is the party responsible for Bannon’s demotion. The administration basically admits as much — though they claim, puzzlingly, that Bannon was intended to serve on the NSC to keep an eye on Flynn, the man Trump himself trusted most in the job. [Bloomberg / Jennifer Jacobs]
• But it also seems plausible that the demotion is the product of a rumored rift between opposing factions of Trump’s own inner circle: moderates who were in step with Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka versus ideological populists like Bannon. [Washington Post / Philip Rucker, Robert Costa]
• This isn’t a bug of Trump’s leadership style. It’s a feature. From the beginning — including during the presidential transition, which Kushner reportedly took over from former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as an act of revenge — Trump’s presidency has been marked by competing circles of power and factions fighting for his attention. [Washington Post / Dan Balz]
• And the president shows favor by piling responsibility upon responsibility. Kushner, for one, has taken on a shockingly broad portfolio of tasks, which range from striking a peace deal between Israeli and Palestinians and solving the opioid crisis to acting as a liaison to both Mexico and China. [Business Insider / Maxwell Tani]
• Perhaps most indicative of the current shake-up in the White House is the fact that Kushner is heading up a task force focused on government efficiency — despite the fact that Bannon had been heading up a “Strategic Initiatives Group” designed to do just that. [Washington Post / Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker]
• Weirdly, Trump officials started claiming this week that Bannon’s group never existed. Even more weirdly, journalists have spotted a West Wing office labeled “Strategic Initiatives Group,” which would be a strange thing for a nonexistent group to have. [The Hill, Jonathan Easley]
• The disorganization stems from distrust. The distrust stems from the internecine competition Trump cultivates. The shake-ups are the inevitable outcome of the president’s management style. [Politico / Josh Dawsey, Tara Palmeri, Eli Stokols, Shane Goldmacher​]

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley turns on Russia after Syrian chemical attack

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

• US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, at an emergency Security Council meeting to respond to the Syrian government’s reported use of chemical weapons against its own citizens, took a strong stance against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — hinting that the US might “take our action” in Syria’s six-year civil war.
• Haley also, surprisingly, attacked Assad’s most powerful ally: the Russian government of Vladimir Putin. “How many more children have to die before Russia cares?” she asked at the UN. [New York Times / Somini Sengupta, Rick Gladstone] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-attack-un.html
• Russia has long backed Assad and blocked sanctions on Syria. It rejected the need for a UN Security Council resolution on Syria in Tuesday’s meeting, claiming instead that Syrian rebels — not Assad’s government — were responsible for the attack. [BBC] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39500319
• President Trump, for his part, has also been surprisingly strong in condemning Assad. His initial statement on the chemical weapons attack reserved its vitriol for his predecessor President Obama, whom Trump accused of failing to take action against Assad when the strongman crossed a “red line” by using chemical weapons years ago... [Vox / Zack Beauchamp] http://www.vox.com/world/2017/4/5/15189820/trump-response-atrocity-syria-blame-obama
• ...but in improvised remarks at the Rose Garden, Trump focused his anger toward Assad — saying the attack “crossed a lot of lines for me,” and that his “attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much.” (He did not elaborate how that attitude change would be reflected in policy.) [NPR / Jessica Taylor] http://www.npr.org/2017/04/05/522743184/president-trump-syrian-attack-crossed-a-lot-of-lines-for-me?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=politics&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170405
• Taking a hard line with Assad would be difficult to square with Trump’s efforts to thaw relations with Russia. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump appeared to understand the potential for conflict, saying, “I think it’s a very sad day for Russia because they’re aligned, and in this case, all information points to Syria that they did this.” [New York Times / Glenn Thrush, Maggie Haberman] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/us/politics/trump-interview-susan-rice.html
• Syrian civilians, in the meantime, continue to suffer consequences of the attack, the first of its kind since 2013. The death toll has risen to over 80, and estimates say 30 casualties were children. One heartbreaking story has circulated widely in the aftermath: of a father who lost his 9-month-old twins and his wife, after initially thinking he’d delivered them all to safety. [Telegraph / Josie Ensor] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/05/syria-gas-attack-sobbing-father-cradles-dead-twins-19-family/

Trump defends Fox’s O’Reilly from sexual harassment claims

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

• Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that Fox News has paid a shocking $13 million to settle sexual harassment lawsuits against Fox star Bill O’Reilly — brought by his female colleagues. [New York Times / Emily Steel, Michael S. Schmidt]
• In the days since, Fox has seen more than 40 advertisers drop O’Reilly’s show. But the network hasn’t said anything substantial on the topic, and — with the exception of a short statement — neither has O’Reilly. [CNN / Tom Kludt]
• It’s worth noting that Fox News is currently under investigation by the US attorney’s office for how it has handled sexual harassment cases. [New York Times / Emily Steel, John Koblin]
• In July 2016, Fox saw the departure of chair and chief executive Roger Ailes due to widely publicized sexual harassment allegations. But Ailes’s departure came only after a pressure campaign by Fox executives for employees to support their boss and refute the allegations. Fox seems intent on handling O’Reilly’s case quietly. [New York Times / John Koblin, Emily Steel, Jim Rutenberg]
• Perhaps it’s because O’Reilly is almost unfathomably valuable to Fox: His show The O’Reilly Factor was the No. 1 cable news show in 2016, and it brought in close to $178 million in 2015. [TV Newser / A.J. Katz] [New York Times / Emily Steel, Michael Schmidt]
• One viewing household in particular, however, speaks to O’Reilly’s true reach: the White House. Trump has been known to cite Fox News as a source, and Fox producers and show hosts reportedly do their jobs knowing that at any moment, “maybe the president is watching.” [New York Times / John Koblin, Nick Corasaniti]
• Today, Trump came out in support of O’Reilly, telling the New York Times, “I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person.” Ironically, last week Trump declared April Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. [Vox / German Lopez]
• Cruel ironies aside, even before Trump spoke out in support, it seemed unlikely that Fox would force O’Reilly’s ouster. The network needs him too much. [Law News / Alberto Luperon]

Miscellaneous

• Shawn Katusabe was forced to flee Uganda because of a culture of homophobia American evangelicals helped create. And then a Christian family in California took him in. [The Atavist / Jacob Kushner]
• A full list of suggested mascots for Amherst College, including "A Silver Fox (named Shadow)" and "just plain 'The Jeffs.'" [Amherst College]
• Let us now praise the humble egg slicer kitchen tool. [GQ / Kelsey McKinney]
• Walking on the escalator is one of life's great pleasures. But researchers say escalators are more efficient when absolutely no one is walking. [NYT / Christopher Mele]
• Like many cities, Seattle has dealt for decades with NIMBY homeowners blocking development and keeping rents high. Now neighborhood groups are finally being overthrown, and affordable housing is starting to stand a chance. [Next City / Erica Barnett]

Verbatim

• “In 2014, I testified before Paul Ryan, now the House Speaker, at a congressional hearing about poverty in America. Every other person who testified that day knew about poverty because they had studied it. I was the only one there actually living it.” [Washington Post / Tianna Gaines-Turner]
• “A media apparatus that was built to fleece gullible, generally older people now holds sway over much of Congress and the president himself. It turns out gerontocracy is an even bigger disaster in a nation with a giant media industry dedicated to scaring and lying to old people.” [Fusion / Alex Pareene]
• “It’s the basic principle that if something is misrepresented to you, it should be corrected. He really just prefers butter for a number of reasons.” [Thomas Shapiro to NYT / Daniel Victor]
• “If women once gathered to pass around herbs and vines and illegal diaphragms and D.I.Y. abortion kits, why not code?” [New Yorker / Moira Weigel]
• “The pair of Caligula's pleasure ships found during Mussolini's time as prime minister revealed palatial furnishings and advanced naval mechanisms, including bronze statues, marble floors and lead pipes marked ‘Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus’ (Caligula's full name) that would have carried hot and cold running water.” [Washington Post / Amy B. Wang]

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