Poll: Chasm greatest since Vietnam War
Seven in 10 Americans say the nation’s political divisions are at least as big as during the Vietnam War, according to a new poll, which also finds nearly 6 in 10 saying Donald Trump’s presidency is making the U.S. political system more dysfunctional.
The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll — conducted nine months into Mr. Trump’s tumultuous presidency — reveals a starkly pessimistic view of U.S. politics, widespread distrust of the nation’s political leaders and their ability to compromise, and an erosion of pride in the way democracy works in America.
Mr. Trump’s arrival in the White House in January ushered in a period of big political fights — over issues including health care, taxes and immigration — and a sharp escalation in personal attacks on political opponents over social media and elsewhere.
Obama gets jury duty
Since leaving the White House in January, former president Barack Obama has turned heads. Images of him slipping into a Broadway play with his elder daughter, Malia, and kitesurfing with billionaire Richard Branson in the British Virgin Islands were shared on social media sites.
His next stop: jury duty in Cook County, Illinois.
Mr. Obama plans to serve next month, the county’s chief judge told the Chicago Tribune. Mr. Obama, who owns homes in Washington, D.C., as well as Chicago, will follow in the footsteps of presidential predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, both of whom appeared for jury selection after leaving the White House.
Fed vacancies remain
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — President Trump, who has several spots to fill at the Federal Reserve, is expected to nominate its next chairman this coming week, but is unlikely to simultaneously tap a vice chairman, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday, eliminating one potential twist in a selection process being closely watched on Wall Street.
Speaking to reporters aboard a military aircraft during a weeklong Middle East trip, Mr. Mnuchin did not drop any hints as to who Mr. Trump might pick, but said that he had been discussing the Fed decision with Mr. Trump while he was traveling and that the focus was on naming the next chairman.
Mr. Trump has turned the Fed pick into a very public display and has on several occasions named those he is considering. The roster appears to have narrowed to Jerome H. Powell, a Fed governor who has voted in favor of every Fed policy decision since 2012, and John B. Taylor, a Stanford economist who has been critical of the central bank.
Convention momentum
DETROIT — Nearly everyone here had a story about where they were in January, the day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated.
Nine months after the Women’s March, about 4,000 people, mostly women, gathered in Detroit this weekend for the Women’s Convention.
For all the disparate topics at this meeting, one thread ran through them all: opposition to the Trump administration and a pointed focus on elections next year.
In small rooms, speakers led detailed training sessions for candidates at all levels.
Women here said it was essential not to judge progress too quickly. Change, they said, took time and could head in different directions, not a single line.