All the President's Nut Jobs: Today's News for May 22nd

New York Times:

Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation

President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a document summarizing the meeting.

“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

Mr. Trump added, “I’m not under investigation.”

...The White House document that contained Mr. Trump’s comments was based on notes taken from inside the Oval Office and has been circulated as the official account of the meeting. One official read quotations to The Times, and a second official confirmed the broad outlines of the discussion. 

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, did not dispute the account.

This is an incredible revelation from the White House. For Trump to have made such comments, in front of Russian officials no less, is at the very least politically indiscreet, and at worst creating legal implications. The fact he specifically equates the firing of the FBI director with removing the "great pressure because of Russia" is almost a confession that he fired the FBI director because of the Russian investigation.

Note that "almost a confession" is not a confession. Especially because the source document for these quotes has not been publicly released.

Not surprisingly, Fox News somehow missed this story. Instead, this is what they covered today:

Fox News:

Hill Republicans wary of cuts in Trump's 2018 budget plan out Tuesday

Top Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about the cuts President Trump plans to make for the 2018 budget year, which is due out Tuesday.

The blueprint is certain to include a wave of cuts to benefit programs such as Medicaid, food stamps, federal employee pensions and farm subsidies. The fleshed-out proposal follows up on an unpopular partial release in March that targeted the budgets of domestic agencies and foreign aid for cuts averaging 10 percent -- and made lawmakers in both parties recoil.

The new cuts are unpopular as well.

Of course the cuts are unpopular. Congress doesn't like budget cuts, regardless of political party affiliation.

That said, this is a lede story? Get real. Presidential budgets are typically ignored by Congress, as they do their own thing (if they do anything at all).

In other words, Fox ignored Trump's potentially self-incriminating comments for a non-story lede.

Even CNN manages to find something much more interesting with their lede, and actually about something which was news over the weekend, namely Trump's Middle East trip:

CNN:

Can Donald Trump solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

US President Donald Trump arrives in Israel Monday in search of what he has called "the ultimate deal".

When he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington earlier this month, Trump said: "we will get it done," as the two men discussed a deal to end the conflict in the Middle East.

But like so many US presidents who have believed it their duty to bring peace to the region, Trump will face a series of challenges, which have grown increasingly insurmountable.

Seven years on since Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last held talks, the same issues remain -- disagreements over borders, security, Jerusalem, a right of return for refugees and mutual recognition are no closer to being solved.

"Everybody wants peace, they just want it on their terms," Senator George Mitchell who worked on peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians in 2010, told CNN.

"I don't think it's a case of finding people who want to make peace. If you said to everyone: 'do you want peace?' then of course they'll say they want peace. But they define peace differently and want it according to their definition, not the other side's definition."

This has been a problem for American presidents since Harry Truman. If Trump does broker a true peace, it would be a monster diplomatic event, especially considering the reasons given above by George Mitchell. This would be an event for Trump comparable to the "only Nixon could go to China" event.

And then he wakes up.