On Politics: U.S. Looks for Clues in Saudi Oil Attack

2019年9月18日星期三

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Good Wednesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

American investigators are examining missile circuit boards recovered in Saudi Arabia that may provide clues as to the origins of last weekend's attack against Saudi oil facilities as the Trump administration debates on how, and whether, to retaliate.

For a president with a loose relationship with the facts and poisonous relationships with allies, the attack on the Saudi oil fields poses a critical conundrum: how to prove that Iran launched the strike and rally the world to respond.

The spike in oil prices after the attacks won't start a recession. But a sustained surge in energy prices might have a bigger impact.
The Trump administration is racing to announce limited trade deals with Japan and India before the end of the month. The "minideals" are aimed at helping President Trump overcome concerns about his trade approach before the 2020 election.

A study by the National Park Service found that the construction of Mr. Trump's border wall would significantly damage or completely destroy more than 20 archaeological sites in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument at the heart of Arizona's Sonoran Desert.

Corey Lewandowski, one of Mr. Trump's political confidants, confirmed in congressional testimony that the president had once asked him to help pressure the attorney general to curtail the scope of the Russia investigation, possibly obstructing justice.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is making her first move to back primary challengers to incumbents by endorsing Marie Newman, who is seeking to oust Representative Daniel Lipinski, a conservative-leaning Democrat, in Illinois.
In speeches in New York and New Mexico this week, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Mr. Trump laid out competing visions of populism.
The Federal Reserve stepped into financial markets on Tuesday to keep short-term interest rates from rising — the first time the central bank has had to carry out this type of "market operation" since the global financial crisis.

Mr. Trump's descriptions of California's homeless problem aren't any worse than those of the state's most liberal politicians — on that they agree. It's when trying to figure out solutions that they stop seeing eye to eye.

Today's On Politics briefing was compiled by Isabella Grullón Paz in New York.

Is there anything you think we're missing? Anything you want to see more of? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.