The Phony Constitution: In a rambling appearance before the press yesterday, President Trump denounced the “phony emoluments clause” of the Constitution which prohibits him from making money from his office, and claimed that being President has cost him between two and five billion dollars.

  Trump was raging about the resistance to holding the next G-7 Summit at his Trump National Doral resort in Florida next June, much of which came from his own party leaders. “I was going to do it at no cost, or give it free,” Trump whined to reporters. He claimed he would have saved the country millions of dollars.

  Trump said he didn’t need the G-7 for promotional reasons either. He said, “I get more promotion than any human being that’s ever lived,” which would come as a surprise to Jesus and John Lennon.

  He cancelled his plan primarily after Republican leaders said it was a mistake.

  The President continued to promote what he believes to be his real estate genius. “I’m very good at real estate, very very good,” he said. “Much better than you understand. When you see my financials, which I’ll give at the right time you’ll say he was much better than we even thought.”

  He’s never revealed his tax returns.

  Trump also railed on about Democrats and California Rep. Adam Schiff. “I think the Democrats fight dirty. I think the Democrats are lousy politicians with lousy policies,” he said. “They’re vicious and they stick together.”

  As for Schiff, a leader in the impeachment movement who Trump refers to as “Shifty Schiff,” he said, “He’s a crooked politician, very bad for our country. This whole thing is very bad for our country.”

  Trump also defended his abrupt decision to abandon the Kurdish militia in northern Syria. He asked, “Where is the agreement says we have to stay in the Middle East for the rest of humanity, the rest of civilization, to protect the Kurds?” 

How Do You Like Them Potatoes: Despite President Trump’s claim that the US still has a good relationship with the Kurds, American armored vehicles were pelted with potatoes yesterday as they withdrew from Syria into Iraq.

  Men throwing spuds in the Kurdish city of Qamishli shouted “No America” and “America liar,” in English.

  The Kurds fear that Turkey plans a campaign of ethnic cleansing once the Americans have cleared out. The New York Times quotes one man shouting, “The Americans are running away like rats.” 

Hear, Hear: Bill Taylor, the top official at the US Embassy in Ukraine, who has previously said he felt the US was trading foreign aid to Ukraine for political favors, testifies today before congressional impeachment investigators. Taylor was the one who said in a text message, “Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?”

Oh Canada: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to have both lost and won yesterday’s election, losing his majority of seats in parliament but retaining enough to allow him to form a new government for a second term. Trudeau had fought accusations that he had bullied his former attorney general, a woman, and the revelation of pictures showing Trudeau wearing blackface. 

Bye Bye Bibi: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to form a governing coalition, opening the door for Benny Gantz, the former army chief who narrowly defeated him in last month’s election, to try to become the country’s next leader. Netanyahu, who turned 70 yesterday, has been prime minister since 2009.

  The 60-year-old Gantz has 28 days to put together a government. It’s not a sure shot that he’ll be able to do it, and of course, Netanyahu is hoping he won’t. If Gantz fails, Israel will have a third election to try to reach a resolution.

The Drug Deal: The three major drug distributors and an opioid manufacturer have reached a $260 million settlement with two Ohio counties that were suing them. The deal is a combination of cash payouts and donations of addiction treatments. With potentially thousands of similar lawsuits claiming the drug companies and distributors created the opioid addiction crisis, it’s an indicator of how much money the defendants are going to be shelling out.

The Bulletin Board: The Justice Department announced plans to collect DNA samples from immigrants crossing the border in what Attorney Gen. William Barr says is a move to fight crime. — Fire broke out in the hills of Pacific Palisades yesterday on the coast of Southern California. Up north, Pacific Gas & Electric says it might cut power again tomorrow to 200,000 customers to avoid wildfires. — Facebook announced that as election-influencing heats up, the company has removed four networks of fake accounts, three based in Russia and one in Iran. 

Net Lurking: Utah Sen. Mitt Romney has been revealed to have a secret Twitter account under the nom de tweet “Pierre Delecto,” putting him in good company with John Barron and Carlos Danger.

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