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| Jared Kushner Promises a Trump Infrastructure Plan That Democrats Can Love | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| ■ President-elect Donald J. Trump’s son-in-law told business leaders in New York that Mr. Trump will be pushing a $1 trillion infrastructure plan closer to the ideal of Democrats than Republicans. | |
| ■ Mr. Trump took to Twitter on Friday to again play down Russian interference in the elections — this time, seemingly praising one of the cyberattacks for the revelations it contained. | |
| ■ The nation is divided over the Trump presidency, with many excited and still more worried. | ■ The nation is divided over the Trump presidency, with many excited and still more worried. |
| The president-elect’s son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, told New York business leaders on Friday that Mr. Trump’s vision for a large-scale federal infrastructure program was “closer” to Senator Chuck Schumer’s, the incoming minority leader, than to the majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell’s. | |
| Mr. Kushner made the remarks at an event hosted by the Partnership for New York City, just after an appearance by Mr. Schumer, the New York senator. | |
| This week at a news conference in Washington, Mr. McConnell said he was not interested in “trillion-dollar stimulus” to finance any infrastructure plan, setting up what could be the first of many clashes with a Trump White House that will not always hew to Republican orthodoxy. | |
| The Trump campaign floated a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that would depend on private investors raising money and building the projects with the aid of some form of tax credit. Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, said shortly after the election that a huge infrastructure plan would be in the offing, but the form was not clear. Democrats have long said they want an infrastructure plan that has plentiful direct federal funding, something Mr. Schumer has said repeatedly, not tax credits for rich developers. | |
| This does not excite Mr. McConnell who, like most Republicans, recalls President Obama’s early stimulus plan unfavorably. That plan came in the middle of the worst recession since the Depression. | |
| Mr. Trump inherits an economy that is healthy enough that the Federal Reserve raised interest rates Wednesday to head off overheating. The Fed has made it clear that if Mr. Trump insists on pumping money into the economy, it will hasten rate increases to stave off inflation. | |
| “We need to do this carefully and correctly, and the issue of how to pay for it needs to be dealt with responsibly,” Mr. McConnell, the Kentucky senator, said this week. | |
| The president-elect took to Twitter on Friday to again dismiss the significance of Russia’s meddling in the election — but with a new twist. This time, he seemed to praise the revelations of one of the cyberattacks. | |
| The post seems to refer to an email stolen from the Democratic National Committee and given to WikiLeaks that came from a Democratic strategist, Donna Brazile, before a CNN Democratic primary debate in Flint, Mich. | The post seems to refer to an email stolen from the Democratic National Committee and given to WikiLeaks that came from a Democratic strategist, Donna Brazile, before a CNN Democratic primary debate in Flint, Mich. |
| Ms. Brazile’s subject line: “One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash.” | Ms. Brazile’s subject line: “One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash.” |
| “Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint,” Ms. Brazile wrote to John D. Podesta, the Clinton campaign chairman, and Jennifer Palmieri, the candidate’s communications director. | “Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint,” Ms. Brazile wrote to John D. Podesta, the Clinton campaign chairman, and Jennifer Palmieri, the candidate’s communications director. |
| That might seem like a pretty obvious question, given that the debate was in Flint to address the crisis over the city’s lead-contaminated water. But it cost Ms. Brazile her commentator’s job at CNN, and it helped to fuel Mr. Trump’s accusation during the campaign that the election was “rigged” in Hillary Clinton’s favor. | That might seem like a pretty obvious question, given that the debate was in Flint to address the crisis over the city’s lead-contaminated water. But it cost Ms. Brazile her commentator’s job at CNN, and it helped to fuel Mr. Trump’s accusation during the campaign that the election was “rigged” in Hillary Clinton’s favor. |
| A new CBS News poll found that 46 percent of Americans are excited or optimistic about Donald J. Trump’s presidency, about the percentage who voted for him. But 53 percent say they are concerned or scared. | A new CBS News poll found that 46 percent of Americans are excited or optimistic about Donald J. Trump’s presidency, about the percentage who voted for him. But 53 percent say they are concerned or scared. |
| With the inauguration about a month away, a solid majority — 62 percent — say the president-elect will bring real change to the way Washington works. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing probably depends on your party. Some 58 percent say they believe he will divide rather than unite people. | With the inauguration about a month away, a solid majority — 62 percent — say the president-elect will bring real change to the way Washington works. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing probably depends on your party. Some 58 percent say they believe he will divide rather than unite people. |
| The announcement on Thursday that David M. Friedman, Mr. Trump’s bankruptcy lawyer, would be nominated to be the United States ambassador to Israel, is likely to roil an American Jewish community that sided overwhelmingly with Hillary Clinton and is already at sea in the wake of the 2016 election. | The announcement on Thursday that David M. Friedman, Mr. Trump’s bankruptcy lawyer, would be nominated to be the United States ambassador to Israel, is likely to roil an American Jewish community that sided overwhelmingly with Hillary Clinton and is already at sea in the wake of the 2016 election. |
| Divisions remain among Jewish people over President Obama’s policies, especially his nuclear deal with Iran. And Mr. Friedman is not likely to unify the community. Confronting the liberal Jewish group J Street, which largely opposes the policies of Israel’s conservative prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Friedman once leveled one of the worst insults possible to a Jew. He compared the group to kapos, the Jewish collaborators who enforced Nazi edict in the World War II concentration camps. | Divisions remain among Jewish people over President Obama’s policies, especially his nuclear deal with Iran. And Mr. Friedman is not likely to unify the community. Confronting the liberal Jewish group J Street, which largely opposes the policies of Israel’s conservative prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Friedman once leveled one of the worst insults possible to a Jew. He compared the group to kapos, the Jewish collaborators who enforced Nazi edict in the World War II concentration camps. |
| “Are J Street supporters really as bad as kapos? The answer, actually, is no. They are far worse than kapos — Jews who turned in their fellow Jews in the Nazi death camps,” Mr. Friedman said. | “Are J Street supporters really as bad as kapos? The answer, actually, is no. They are far worse than kapos — Jews who turned in their fellow Jews in the Nazi death camps,” Mr. Friedman said. |
| J Street reacted almost immediately to news of Mr. Friedman’s nomination, calling on the Senate to reject him. | J Street reacted almost immediately to news of Mr. Friedman’s nomination, calling on the Senate to reject him. |
| “As someone who has been a leading American friend of the settlement movement, who lacks any diplomatic or policy credentials and who has attacked liberal Jews who support two states as ‘worse than kapos’, Friedman should be beyond the pale for senators considering who should represent the United States in Israel,” the group said in a statement. | “As someone who has been a leading American friend of the settlement movement, who lacks any diplomatic or policy credentials and who has attacked liberal Jews who support two states as ‘worse than kapos’, Friedman should be beyond the pale for senators considering who should represent the United States in Israel,” the group said in a statement. |
| The Republican Jewish Coalition was all praise: | The Republican Jewish Coalition was all praise: |
| A Trump economic adviser, Stephen Moore, caused quite a kerfuffle in Detroit on Thursday when in a fit of excitement, he announced that the economic commentator Larry Kudlow would be named chairman of Mr. Trump’s White House Council of Economic Advisers. | A Trump economic adviser, Stephen Moore, caused quite a kerfuffle in Detroit on Thursday when in a fit of excitement, he announced that the economic commentator Larry Kudlow would be named chairman of Mr. Trump’s White House Council of Economic Advisers. |
| Mr. Kudlow, while certainly versed in economics, is not an economist. He has an undergraduate degree in history. The council chairman has traditionally been pulled from the highest echelons of academia to advise the president, not to lobby or persuade. | Mr. Kudlow, while certainly versed in economics, is not an economist. He has an undergraduate degree in history. The council chairman has traditionally been pulled from the highest echelons of academia to advise the president, not to lobby or persuade. |
| Moreover, Mr. Kudlow is an ardent free trader and was openly critical of Mr. Trump’s position on trade during the campaign, even as he enthusiastically backed the candidate. | Moreover, Mr. Kudlow is an ardent free trader and was openly critical of Mr. Trump’s position on trade during the campaign, even as he enthusiastically backed the candidate. |
| The announcement would have also come as a surprise to Peter Navarro, a Harvard-trained professor of economics at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. Professor Navarro is widely considered the front-runner for the post, and his views on trade are more in line with the president-elect’s. | The announcement would have also come as a surprise to Peter Navarro, a Harvard-trained professor of economics at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. Professor Navarro is widely considered the front-runner for the post, and his views on trade are more in line with the president-elect’s. |
| After the Democrats sent out their reactions, and the news media came alive, Mr. Moore sheepishly admitted that, while he is pulling for his friend Mr. Kudlow, the deal is not done. | After the Democrats sent out their reactions, and the news media came alive, Mr. Moore sheepishly admitted that, while he is pulling for his friend Mr. Kudlow, the deal is not done. |
| “Larry is the obvious choice, because he has all the connections with the key players on Capitol Hill, and there’s nobody that can articulate the free-market, conservative economic message better than Larry can,” he said. But he admitted he had jumped the gun. | “Larry is the obvious choice, because he has all the connections with the key players on Capitol Hill, and there’s nobody that can articulate the free-market, conservative economic message better than Larry can,” he said. But he admitted he had jumped the gun. |