Issue January 19, 2018 - The Week Magazine (2024)

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In This IssueEditor’s letterThe timing is probably just coincidental, but next week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hold a public forum to educate us about how to respond to “a nuclear detonation.” Experts in “radiation studies” will provide helpful tips, such as “shelter in place” for at least 24 hours. It might be advisable to pay attention. As Kim Jong Un continues to pursue his development of nuclear missiles that can strike the U.S., Gerald Seib reports in The Wall Street Journal this week, there is a lively debate within the Trump administration about a pre-emptive strike (see Best U.S. columns). If Kim tests another ICBM or hydrogen bomb, national security adviser H.R. McMaster is arguing, the U.S. should give him “a bloody nose,” with a limited airstrike on his…2 min

NEWSTrump’s rage over a scathing new bookWhat happenedPresident Trump this week pushed back hard against a new book that portrays him as volatile, semi-literate, and mentally unstable, dismissing the account as “fiction,” threatening the publisher with legal action, and slamming former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon as a “leaker” who “lost his mind” when “he lost his job.” Written by journalist Michael Wolff, Fire and Fury portrays a dysfunctional White House filled with warring factions, with Trump’s despairing staff openly questioning his fitness for the presidency. (See Talking Points.) After an excerpt was published last week, Trump’s lawyers issued publisher Henry Holt a cease-and-desist letter, threatening to sue for libel and demanding that publication be halted. Dismissing the request as “flagrantly unconstitutional,” Henry Holt published the book four days early. Trump dismissed concerns over his…3 min

NEWSIt wasn’t all bad▪ When a Dallas middle school asked for a few dozen locals to serve as mentors at a “Breakfast With Dads” event, they were astonished when 600 men showed up to help. The volunteers, many of them police officers and public servants, paired up with boys ages 11 to 13 who attended the event without a dad—teaching them how to tie a necktie and asking them about their aspirations. Volunteer Jason Tren says he was happy to help. “If I were in the place of these young men, I’d want someone to step up.”▪ The world’s oldest known bird is going to be a mother again. Wisdom, a 67-year-old Laysan albatross, was first spotted in Hawaii’s Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in 1956—and has been raising chicks there ever since. Though…1 min

NEWSSessions targets legal marijuanaWhat happenedAttorney General Jeff Sessions threw the burgeoning legal marijuana market into turmoil last week by empowering U.S. prosecutors to enforce federal laws against pot in states where the drug has been legalized. Sessions, a fierce opponent of legalizing weed, announced he was scrapping an Obama-era policy that discouraged federal prosecutors from filing charges in some states because marijuana activity “is a serious crime” and the hands-off approach “undermines the rule of law.” Now it will be up to each of the country’s 93 U.S. attorneys to decide how aggressively they want to pursue weed cases. Under federal law, marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 drug, alongside heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.The announcement sparked a bipartisan backlash from lawmakers in states that have legalized marijuana. Twenty-nine states and the District…2 min

NEWSMueller wants to grill TrumpWhat happenedSpecial counsel Robert Mueller has told President Trump’s lawyers that he could seek an interview with the president early this year, The Washington Post reported this week, prompting speculation that his investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia and potential obstruction of justice is entering a new, advanced stage. The president’s lawyers were reportedly trying to limit the interaction to written questions and answers, rather than a face-to-face meeting, to protect the president from the potential risks of self-incrimination and perjury. Veteran prosecutors said it was unlikely Mueller would settle for written responses and that he could subpoena Trump to testify in person if he balks. Asked by reporters if he would testify, Trump said: “Nobody’s found any collusion at any level, it seems unlikely that you’d…2 min

NEWSHillary Clinton: Why she’s under investigation—againPresident Trump has “nursed a curious and seemingly indefatigable obsession with Hillary Clinton” throughout his presidency, said Abigail Tracy in VanityFair.com. Trump recently tweeted that the Justice Department ought to look into how Clinton got away with deleting 33,000 emails—“No Justice!”—and last week he added that Clinton aide Huma Abedin should be prosecuted for having stored classified emails on her husband’s laptop. Trump’s Clinton obsession has now taken a darker turn. The Department of Justice, it was revealed last week, has indeed reopened an investigation of Clinton’s email practices. At the same time, the FBI is reportedly reviving a dormant investigation into the Clinton Family Foundation, to determine if foundation donors received special favors from Clinton’s State Department. Trump may not have directly ordered reopening these probes. But the timing…3 min

Issue January 19, 2018 - The Week Magazine (2024)

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