Broken China: Despite an apparent cessation in the trade war with China, infighting and bungling by the American negotiating team has so far resulted in no meaningful agreement, The NY Times reports.

The paper says, “Ceaseless infighting and jockeying for influence on the White House’s trade team helped deprive Mr. Trump of a quick victory on his most cherished policy agenda, several people involved in the talks said.”

Members of the administration have issued conflicting statements. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said tariffs are on hold during the talks while Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer warned the Chinese that tariffs are still a distinct possibility. Don’t even bother with what Larry Kudlow says.

President Trump, who doesn’t seem to talk to anyone who works for him, then tweeted, “Under our potential deal with China, they will purchase from our Great American Farmers practically as much as our Farmers can produce.”

The Insider: The political world is still reeling after President trump’s demand that the Justice Department investigate whether the Obama administration had an informant planted in the Trump campaign.

Conservative columnist Matt Lewis writes for The Daily Beast  that, “In Donald Trump’s America, there really are two Americas.”

He says, “In one, America’s intelligence community caught wind of the fact that Russia was attempting to influence the various inexperienced and sketchy members of the Trump campaign, and sought to investigate this possibly dangerous behavior, using various methods at their disposal, including confidential informants on the inside.

In the other America—and make no mistake, there are tens of millions living in this alternative universe—the Obama administration sought to wiretap and spy on the Trump campaign for completely nefarious reasons. They were out to get him from day one.”

Hermit Kingdom: Journalists and international observers have gathered in North Korea to watch the dismantling of the North’s nuclear testing facility.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is in Washington to meet with President Trump to keep scheduled peace talks on track. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has indicated he will not give up his nuclear weapons, which is the primary US intent. Vice President Mike Pence said, “It would be a great mistake for President Kim to think he can play Donald Trump.”

The Him Too Movement: Following a report on “60 Minutes” in which a woman said she was drugged and raped, the New York police have opened a second investigation of celebrity chef Mario Batali.

The woman told Anderson Cooper that the incident happened in 2005 at the  Greenwich Village restaurant The Spotted Pig. Another woman has also accused Batali of drugging and raping her in 2004 at Batali’s restaurant Babbo.

Batali issued a statement denying any nonconsensual sex, but also admitted to inappropriate behavior.

The chef’s partners in B&B Hospitality, the company that owns 20 restaurants, said Sunday night “The accounts tonight were chilling and deeply disturbing,” and added, “Our partnership with Mr. Batali is ending.”

The Obit Page: Former White House speechwriter Richard Goodwin, a committed lifelong liberal who helped write the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and President Johnson’s landmark speech outlining “The Great Society,” has died at age 86.

Goodwin wrote for President Kennedy until his assassination and continued on with Lyndon Johnson. He actually coined the term “Great Society.”  Goodwin left the Johnson administration in disagreement about the growing Vietnam war but he wrote for and consulted with Democratic candidates and office holders right through Barack Obama. He was married to the historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

>Artist Robert Indiana who created the iconic “Love” series of artworks in the 1960s, has died at age 89 in his island home off the coast of Maine.

It was definitely a 60s thing. Indiana made a colorful sculpture with the “L” and a tilted “0” on top of the “V” and “E.” The image was everywhere from sculptures to posters and even a US postage stamp.

Installment Plan: Last September a teenager in Oregon threw a firecracker into the dry Columbia River Gorge, causing the massive Eagle Creek fire that burned for two months.

A court has now ordered the teenager to make restitution. The bill: $36 million. That’s a lot of shifts at McDonald’s.

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