1/ Trump was the only world leader to skip a session devoted to climate change at the G7 summit, citing scheduled meetings with Germany and India. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, both attended the climate change meeting. When asked whether he had attended the climate session, Trump replied: “We’re having it in a little while.” (The Guardian / USA Today / CNN / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)

  • 📌 Day 931: Climate change is putting pressure on the ability of humanity to feed itself, according to a new United Nations report that was prepared by more than 100 experts from 52 countries and, unanimously approved. The report warns that the world’s land and water resources are being exploited at “unprecedented rates” and “the cycle is accelerating.” Climate change has already degraded lands, caused deserts to expand, permafrost to thaw, and made forests more vulnerable to drought, fire, pests and disease. “The stability of food supply is projected to decrease as the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events that disrupt food chains increases,” the report said. The report offered several proposals for addressing food supplies, including reducing red meat consumption, adopting plant-based diets, and eating more fruits, vegetables and seeds. As a result, the world could reduce carbon pollution up to 15% of current emissions levels by 2050. It would also make people healthier. (New York Times / Associated Press / Nature)

  • 📌Day 627: A U.N. report on the effects of climate change predicts a strong risk of an environmental crisis much sooner than expected. The report finds that the atmosphere could warm by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels by 2040 if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, which would cause sea levels to rise, intensify droughts, wildfires, and poverty, and cause a mass die-off of coral reefs. To prevent 2.7 degrees of warming, greenhouse pollution must be reduced by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, and fully eliminated by 2050. The use of coal as an electricity source would have to drop from nearly 40% today to between 1% and 7% by 2050. Renewable energy would have to increase to about 67%. Trump has mocked the science of human-caused climate change, vowing to increase the burning of coal, and he intends to withdraw from the 2015 Paris agreement. The world is already more than halfway to the 2.7-degree mark and “there is no documented historic precedent” for the scale of changes required, the report said. (New York Times / Washington Post)

  • 📌Day 676: The National Climate Assessment concludes that global warming is already “transforming where and how we live and presents growing challenges to human health and quality of life, the economy, and the natural systems that support us.” The findings from the landmark scientific report, issued by 13 federal agencies, are at odds with the Trump administration’s environmental deregulation agenda, which Trump claims will lead to economic growth, and its plans to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. The report predicts that the effects of global warming could eliminate as much as 10% of the U.S. economy by the end of the century, and warns that humans must act aggressively now “to avoid substantial damages to the U.S. economy, environment, and human health and well-being over the coming decades.” The first report, released in November 2017, concluded that there is “no convincing alternative explanation” for the changing climate other than “human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases.” Trump recently questioned the science of climate change, saying that “I don’t know that it’s man-made” and that the warming trend “could very well go back.” (New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post / CNN)

  • 📌 Day 685: Global emissions of carbon dioxide have reached the highest levels on record. Global emissions grew 1.6% in 2017 with 2018 expected to increase 2.7%. The U.S. is the world’s second-largest emitter of carbon emissions, but that hasn’t stopped the Trump administration from moving to roll back regulations designed to limit those emissions from vehicle tailpipes and power-plant smokestacks. As United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said this week at the opening of the 24th annual U.N. climate conference: “We are in trouble. We are in deep trouble with climate change.” (Washington Post / New York Times

2/ Trump floated the idea of holding the next G7 summit at his “magnificent” Doral golf resort in Miami. Trump said that while he hasn’t made a final decision, “it’s right next to the airport and it’s a great place,” and that his staff had determined that — of all the resorts in America — Trump’s club was the best suited to host the international meeting. Trump also defended the possibility of hosting the summit at his golf club, claiming “I’m not going to make any money. I don’t want to make money. I don’t care about making money.” The U.S. is next to host the G7 in 2020. Trump also refused to say whether he would invite Russia to the meeting, but said he thought it would be “advantageous” if they attended. Russia was kicked out over its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / CNBC / CNN)

  • Trump told the G7 that Obama was “outsmarted” and embarrassed by Putin when Russia illegally seized Crimea from Ukraine. (Politico)

  • 📌 Revenue at the Trump National Doral has declined since 2015. The resort’s net operating income fell by 69% from 2015 to 2017. (Washington Post)

3/ The Trump’s hotels and resorts could save millions of dollars on outstanding loans if the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates as Trump has demanded. For every quarter-point reduction, Trump could save as much as $850,000 in annual interest rate payments. If the Fed dropped rates a full percentage point, which Trump has repeatedly urged Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to do, the Trump Organization could save more than $3 million annually. (Washington Post / Bloomberg)

  • 📌 Day 942: Trump urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by a full percentage point. The Fed cut rates last month for the first time in a decade, signaling it might further cut rates amid slowing global growth and uncertainty over Trump’s trade war with China. Trump chastised the central bank’s chairman, Jerome Powell, for a “horrendous lack of vision” and claimed that the U.S. economy “is very strong.” (Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)

  • 📌 Day 946: Trump called the Federal Reserve chairman an “enemy” of the United States after Jerome Powell said Trump’s trade war is a “complex, turbulent” situation. Powell, whom Trump picked for the role, suggested the trade wars were contributing to a possible global slowdown and that the central bank was facing a “new challenge” as a result. Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that the Fed “did NOTHING” and questioned who “our bigger enemy” is: Powell or China’s President Xi Jinping. Trump also tweeted that he’ll continue to “work ‘brilliantly.’” [Editor’s note: It’s unclear why Trump quoted the word brilliantly in his tweet.] (Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / The Guardian / CNBC)

  • 📌 Day 937: Trump, meanwhile, called Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell “clueless” and blamed him for the “CRAZY INVERTED YIELD CURVE!” Trump, deflecting criticism that his trade war with China is hurting the economic outlook, claimed that “China is not our problem” and that “we are winning, big time.” Yesterday, Trump delayed imposing tariffs on some Chinese imports until December “just in case” there would be a negative impact on shoppers during the holidays. (CNBC / Bloomberg)

4/ Trump claimed that “China called last night” to resume trade talks because “They have been hurt very badly” by the trade war. Chinese officials, however, said they were “not aware” of any phone calls with Trump and that China was willing to resolve the trade dispute through “calm” negotiations and opposed further escalation of the conflict. Trump replied: “Sorry, it’s the way I negotiate.” (Politico / Reuters / Bloomberg / Associated Press / CNBC / Washington Post)

5/ Trump has repeatedly suggested dropping nuclear bombs on hurricanes to stop them from hitting the U.S. during meetings with senior Homeland Security and national security officials. “Why don’t we nuke them?” Trump reportedly asked at one hurricane briefing at the White House. Government scientists have repeatedly said the idea will not work. A source in the room said “You could hear a gnat fart in that meeting. People were astonished. After the meeting ended, we thought, ‘What the f—? What do we do with this?’” Trump later denied the report, tweeting in third person that “President Trump […] never said this” and called the story “ridiculous.” (Axios / CNN)

Notables.

  1. The Trump administration won’t say when the first mile of Trump’s new border wall will be built. More than 60 miles of existing barriers and fences have been replaced with a new wall, but to date not a single mile of wall has been built where no barrier previously existed. (Axios)

  2. A network of conservative operatives and White House allies are attempting to discredit news organizations that Trump doesn’t like by publishing damaging information about journalists who work for them. The group compiles dossiers of embarrassing social media posts and other public statements made by journalists who work at large news organizations, including CNN, Washington Post, and New York Times. The research also reportedly extends to the family members of journalists, liberal activists, and other political opponents of Trump. (New York Times)

  3. The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed former White House staff secretary Rob Porter for public testimony. Porter was a key witness in Mueller’s investigation into possible obstruction of justice by Trump and will now testify publicly about Trump’s efforts to impede the Russia investigation. Porter is the third former Trump adviser to receive a subpoena in the last month. The committee is currently weighing whether to recommend articles of impeachment against Trump. Porter resigned last year amid allegations that he abused his ex-wives. (Politico / New York Times / NBC News / Reuters)

  4. Trump claimed that Melania Trump has “gotten to know” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that she agrees that Kim “is a man with a country that has tremendous potential.” Melania Trump has never met Kim, which the White House later confirmed. (Politico / Washington Post)