1/ Trump’s company was pursuing a plan to develop a Trump Tower in Moscow while he was running for president. Discussions about the Moscow project began in September 2015 until it was abandoned just before the presidential primaries began in January 2016, emails show. The details of the deal had not previously been disclosed. The Trump Organization has turned over the emails to the House Intelligence Committee, pointing to the likelihood of additional contacts between Russia and Trump associates during the campaign. (Washington Post)

2/ Trump’s business associate promised that Putin would help Trump win the presidency if he built a Trump Tower in Moscow. “I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected,” Felix Sater, a Russian immigrant, wrote to Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, in 2015. “Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Sater wrote in an email. “I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.” At the time, Sater was a broker for the Trump Organization and was paid to deliver real estate deals. (New York Times)

3/ Trump discussed a proposal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow with his company’s lawyer three times. The project was abandoned in January 2016 “from solely a business standpoint” and had nothing to do with Trump’s campaign his attorney Michael Cohen told the House intelligence committee. “I made the decision to terminate further work on the proposal,” Cohen said. “The Trump Tower Moscow proposal was not related in any way to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.” (Bloomberg)

4/ Trump’s attorney sent an email to Putin’s personal spokesman to ask for help advancing a stalled Trump Tower project in Moscow. Michael Cohen sent the email in January 2016 to Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s top press aide, at the recommendation of Felix Sater, a Russian-American businessman who was serving as a broker on the deal. “I respectfully request someone, preferably you, contact me so that I might discuss the specifics as well as arranging meetings with the appropriate individuals,” Cohen wrote. “I thank you in advance for your assistance and look forward to hearing from you soon.” The email marks the most direct documented interaction of a top Trump aide and a senior member of Putin’s government. (Washington Post)

5/ Four months into the presidential campaign, Trump signed a “letter of intent” to pursue building a Trump Tower in Moscow. The involvement of then-candidate Trump in a proposed Russian development deal contradicts his repeated claims that his business had “no relationship to Russia whatsoever.” The Trump Organization signed a non-binding letter of intent in October 2015. (ABC News)

6/ Trump declined to single out Russia as a “security threat,” saying he considers “many countries threats.” He added that it would be beneficial for the US to have a better relationship with Russia, in order to ensure “world peace.” (The Hill)

7/ Rex Tillerson said that Trump “speaks for himself” when asked about the president’s values and response to the violence in Charlottesville. “I don’t believe anyone doubts the American people’s values or the commitment of the government or the government’s agencies to advancing those values and defending those values,” Tillerson said on “Fox New Sunday,” adding that “the president speaks for himself.” (The Hill)

  • Trump’s frustration with Tillerson is rising fast. “Rex just doesn’t get it, he’s totally establishment in his thinking.” (Axios)

  • Tillerson could be replaced by U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The Deputy Secretary National Security Adviser Dina Powell could then be promoted to Haley’s job in New York. (Axios)

8/ Trump pardoned former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt related to his refusal to stop imprisoning suspected illegal immigrants. Trump didn’t follow his predecessors’ practice of consulting the Justice Department before announcing his first pardon. Arpaio was an early Trump supporter who also helped fuel unfounded allegations that Obama was not born in the United States. In a tweet, Trump called Arpaio a “patriot” and said he “kept Arizona safe.” (CNN / ABC News / Washington Post)

9/ Months ago Trump asked both Jeff Sessions and the White House counsel if Arpaio’s case could be dropped altogether. Trump was advised that it would be inappropriate and the case and charges could not be dropped. (New York Times / Washington Post)

10/ Paul Ryan, John McCain, and Jeff Flake all criticized Trump for pardoning Arpaio. “The Speaker does not agree with this decision,” a Ryan spokesman said in a statement. “Law enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon.” John McCain added that the president’s “pardon of Joe Arpaio, who illegally profiled Latinos, undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law.” Jeff Flake tweeted that “I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course.” And, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton called the pardon a “slap in the face to the people of Maricopa County, especially the Latino community.” (CNN / Wall Street Journal)

11/ Trump announced Arpaio’s pardon as Hurricane Harvey made landfall because he “assumed the ratings would be far higher.” Trump told reporters at a press conference: “In the middle of a hurricane, even though it was a Friday evening, I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally. You know, the hurricane was just starting.” (The Hill)

12/ Sebastian Gorka left the White House and will return to Breitbart News, reuniting with Steve Bannon. One White House official said Gorka submitted his resignation to John Kelly, while a second White House official said “Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he is no longer with the White House.” The White House issued an unattributed statement saying that Gorka no longer works in the administration, but didn’t say he resigned. (New York Times / CNN / Politico)

13/ Trump rescinded Obama’s restrictions on the transfer of surplus military-style equipment to local police departments. Obama’s 2015 order came in the wake of the Ferguson riots, where police used armored vehicles and military-type equipment to quell protests after the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed by police. The Justice Department concluded that the use of military-style equipment made matters worse in Ferguson. (NBC News / Politico)

14/ North Korea launched three ballistic missiles and at least one of flew over Japan. It was the second time in four days that North Korea launched a missile. On Saturday, the North launched three short-range missiles. (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times)