On Politics A.M.: Trump Imposing More Tariffs

2019年12月3日星期二

December 3, 2019

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

Blaming Brazil and Argentina for weakening their currencies and hurting American farmers, President Trump said Monday that he would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum from both countries, a move that would shatter previous agreements and escalate the global trade war.

Trade troubles are also brewing with France. The Trump administration said on Monday that a new French tax that hit American technology companies discriminated against the United States. The declaration could lead to retaliatory tariffs as high as 100 percent on French wines.

Eighteen months of American sanctions on Iran have fueled the country’s protests, but not much else. It’s hard to know if the sanctions will accomplish the administration’s original objective: renegotiating the nuclear deal, or dialing back Iran’s behavior in the region.

The Trump administration will allow $105 million of military aid to flow to Lebanon after having frozen the funding without explanation. Lawmakers have asked about holds on military aid during the impeachment inquiry.
As House Democrats prepare for the next phase of impeachment, Republicans prepared their line of defense. They plan to argue that Mr. Trump was acting on “valid” concerns of corruption involving Americans when he pressed for the investigation of Democratic rivals.
The timing of when Ukraine knew of the hold on the military aid is a critical question in the impeachment hearings in Congress. According to Ukraine officials, they were aware of the freeze in July.
Attorney General William P. Barr is said to be skeptical of a conclusion by the Justice Department’s inspector general that the F.B.I. had sufficient cause to open the inquiry into Russian election interference. Mr. Trump’s allies could use that potential pushback to dismiss the entire report.

A significant number of the 1,990 pledged delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination are at stake in states with large shares of black Democratic voters. Essentially, black voters can provide a huge structural advantage. And the candidate with that advantage right now is Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Bloomberg News announced that it would not investigate the presidential candidates in the Democratic field. In retaliation, Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign said on Monday that it would bar Bloomberg News journalists from attending its rallies and political events.

The Supreme Court’s first Second Amendment case in a decade could fizzle out and not cause any real consequence. The arguments Monday focused on whether the repeal of a New York law made the case moot.

Representative Duncan Hunter of California is expected to plead guilty to allegations that he misused more than $200,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses, including on family vacations, large bar tabs and groceries.

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.