How the summit got derailed

President Trump hasn’t shut the door on the possibility that a North Korea summit could still happen — but for now, he’s warning North Korea not to try anything.

Behind the scenes: A White House official told Axios’ Jonathan Swan: “They literally threatened nuclear war. …[N]o summit will work under these circumstances when they’re literally threatening our people.”

For now, it’s back to the days of “fire and fury.”

• Here’s what Trump said this afternoon at the White House: “Our military, which is by far the most powerful anywhere in the world … is ready if necessary.”
• South Korea and Japan are “ready should foolish or reckless acts be taken by North Korea.”
• But, but, but: “It’s possible that the existing summit could take place or a summit at some later date. Nobody should be anxious. We have to get it right.”

Two views on where we’re headed, from Axios Expert Voices:

• The case for pessimism, from Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations: “There was no way the summit could have succeeded … Better that the summit was postponed than to have ended up in dramatic failure.”
• The case for optimism, from Tony Blinken, former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration: “Both leaders still likely want this meeting to happen.”

Go deeper:

• Trump cancels the summit with Kim Jong-un
• South Korean leader “perplexed” by Trump’s summit decision
• Pompeo: North Korea ignored U.S. requests on summit prep

From Axios



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House Passes Holocaust Remembrance Amendment

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included an amendment introduced by Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22), and Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) that would order the Secretary of Defense to include Holocaust remembrance in any commemorations of the 75th anniversary of World War II.

Following passage of the NDAA with their amendment, the Representatives issued this joint statement:

“World War II ended with the U.S. and Allied Forces defeating the Nazis and liberating Europe from Hitler’s murderous regime. But as they fought their way through Europe, they uncovered the horrific Nazi network of death camps set up to carry out their Final Solution – the complete annihilation of the Jewish people. As our country plans for commemoration events marking the end of World War II, we must also remember and teach future generations about the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust and honor the Allied liberators of Buchenwald, Auschwitz, and other Nazi concentration camps.”

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Mueller’s investigation has absolutely uncovered evidence of crimes

 Mueller’s investigation has absolutely uncovered evidence of crimes:

• Michael Flynn, former national security adviser and a key Trump campaign surrogate, pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal investigators in December.
• Rick Gates, a top aide on the Trump campaign and a longtime business partner of Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty to false statements and one count of conspiracy.
• George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser on the campaign, pleaded guilty to false statements.
• Alexander van der Zwaan, a London-based Dutch attorney, pleaded guilty to making false statements about his contacts with Gates and an unnamed Ukrainian.
• 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies have been indicted on conspiracy charges, and some on identity theft charges, related to Russian social media and hacking efforts.
• Richard Pinedo, a California resident, has pleaded guilty to an identity theft chargerelated to the Russian indictments.
• Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chair, is facing two separate indictments — one in DCabout conspiracy, money laundering, false statements, and failure to disclose foreign assets; and one in Virginia about tax, financial, and bank fraud charges.

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Rudy Giuliani is Very Confused

Jimmy Kimmel went to great lengths to fully comprehend what Rudy Giuliani said during an interview on This Week.

Kimmel began by addressing the “old” and “scary” volcano that “erupted over the weekend” (and no, not the one in Hawaii) and played a clip of his interview with George Stephanopoulos when he incoherently was responding to a question about whether President Trump knew about Michael Cohen‘s payment to Stormy Daniels after the campaign.

“I gotta tell you, I don’t even know what he was trying to say,” Kimmel reacted.

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Rudy Giuliani: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Rudy Giuliani is new to Trump’s legal team, but not to public controversy. John Oliver examines his turbulent record as a lawyer, a politician, and an enemy to ferrets.