President Donald Trump put physical distance between himself and the mutiny he faces in Washington, jetting off Thursday for an unusual two-day Western swing amid rising questions about whether his own aides trust him to run the country.

The back-to-back publication of damaging excerpts from Bob Woodward’s forthcoming insider account of Trump’s White House and an anonymous op-ed in the New York Times detailing an internal “resistance” among top officials – along with the ever-present threat posed by Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation – is increasingly weighing on Trump, who continues to seethe over what he perceives as efforts to undermine his legitimacy, according to one Republican close to the White House.

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The president left behind a White House seized with paranoia, as staffers worried that anything they say to colleagues or in meetings will become fodder for the next tell-all or leak, according to interviews with more than a half dozen White House officials and Republicans close to the administration.

Trump aides feel burned not just by leaks to Woodward but by last month’s release of secret tapes that their former colleague Omarosa Manigault Newman made during the 2016 campaign and in the West Wing. And they’re worried that the nascent search for the author of the Times op-ed will become an excuse for aides to exact revenge on each other – “or target those they dislike,” as one staffer put it.

The overwhelming atmosphere of distrust and suspicion among Trump’s closest aides echoes earlier ugly periods in the White House, including last spring’s crackdown on leaks following the publication of remarks made by a press aide in an internal meeting dismissing Arizona Sen. John McCain’s health.

Staffers have largely reacted in anger, instead of shock, to the publication of the op-ed, arguing that if the author feels so incensed by the president’s behavior or agenda, than he or she should resign.

“The notion that someone is claiming to be the guardian of sane policy while being utterly disloyal to the president has a lot of people angry and put off by the arrogance and sanctimony,” said a second Republican close to the White House.

White House officials say they increasingly believe the anonymous author works for a federal agency, outside of the West Wing proper, but that’s speculation based on little evidence. If the author works as senior official for the White House, that narrows the circle to roughly 20 people, said one White House aide, but if it’s a senior official throughout the administration, those ranks run into the hundreds.

To Trump loyalists, the op-ed was the latest evidence that the president is surrounded by staffers who ultimately do not believe in his agenda and only took jobs inside the administration to bolster their own résumés.

“The real story is that you have an administration staffed with people who don’t actually like Trump or agree with him on the issues. This is a predictable consequence of that,” said one former administration official. “It all comes back to the fact that they allowed Reince Priebus and company to staff the administration with people who were not true believers.”

A cascade of de facto loyalty pledges emanated from the Trump administration on Thursday, as roughly 22 top officials and Cabinet members rushed to publicly deny writing the explosive Times op-ed. The goal was to provide assurances, directly to the president, that specific individuals from the Vice President’s office, the CIA, the Pentagon, the Treasury Department, intelligence agencies, and even the White House’s own counsel’s office were not engaged in sabotaging him.

Part of the White House’s strategy involved turning the Times into a foil for Trump, a playbook that served the president well during the 2016 campaign and at various rallies where he draws energy from trashing his enemies.

“If you want to know who this gutless loser is, call the opinion desk of the failing NYT at 212-556-1234 and ask them,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a tweet mid-afternoon. “They are the only ones complicit in this deceitful act. We stand united together and fully support our President Donald J. Trump.”

One former campaign official pointed out that the op-ed took the spotlight thankfully away from the Woodward book, which the White House has long anticipated.

Veterans of Trump’s 2016 campaign – who survived the “Access Hollywood” tape and a host of other scandals – displayed a palpable calm on Thursday. While administration aides were still steeped in speculation about who wrote the op-ed, some of the president’s outside political advisers were piggybacking on his focus on the rising economy, arguing it’s the only thing that matters right now for Trump and his party’s electoral prospects – a talking point that establishment Republicans and congressional leaders have long hoped Trump will talk up.

“It’s just another day in Donald Trump’s America,” said a third Republican close to the president.

“This narrative that Donald Trump is incapable has been forwarded by the media and the left during the campaign, the early days of the administration and it persists to this day,” the Republican added. “But as long as Americans are doing better … who cares?”

Brett Kavanaugh’s views on abortion received fresh scrutiny after leaked documents revealed President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee once suggested the high court could reverse the landmark case ensuring the right to an abortion.

The email, which was previously off limits for the hearings, appeared to undercut Kavanaugh’s attempts to sidestep one of the most sensitive issues in his confirmation battle: whether he would provide the fifth vote to limit or overturn Roe v. Wade. But more than halfway through his second and final day of questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh kept brushing aside new questions about his approach to abortion.

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The new documents from 2003, when Kavanaugh was a White House lawyer in George W. Bush’s administration, showed him pushing back on a line in a draft op-ed that described Roe as “widely accepted by legal scholars” and “settled law of the land.”

“I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent,” Kavanaugh wrote in the email, which was obtained by POLITICO and first reported by the New York Times. The email asserted that “three current Justices on the Court would do so.”

The revelations prompted sharp concerns from Senate Democrats, who say Kavanaugh has been downplaying his opposition to abortion.

Kavanaugh in his 2003 email did not state his personal views on Roe. And throughout his confirmation hearings, he’s repeatedly refused to take a position on the case, saying only that he considers it a precedent that’s been repeatedly reaffirmed by subsequent decisions like Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992.

“That precedent on precedent is quite important,” Kavanaugh said.

But his 2003 email pointed out what he hasn’t acknowledged in testimony on Roe — that the Supreme Court could reverse precedent.

“To be very clear, Judge Kavanaugh personally highlighted that precedent can be overturned,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the health committee, said in a press conference Thursday. “And he was literally counting the number of judges who stand ready to overturn Roe v. Wade.”

Kavanaugh on Thursday contended that he was simply concerned with accurately describing skepticism among some legal scholars whether Roe was settled law.

But Democrats opposed to his nomination seized on the contrast between the email and his deflections this week, pressing him to disclose whether his abortion views have changed since his time in the George W. Bush administration.

“When [Kavanaugh] says legal scholars are not sure it’s settled law, he’s talking about himself,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), reading from the email during a press conference Thursday. “Not that he’s a legal scholar, but that there is a reason that he would think that Roe v. Wade can be overturned.”

Kavanaugh acknowledged that he may also have worked on women’s health issues during his time in Bush’s White House, including legislation banning so-called partial-birth abortions.

“President Bush was a pro-life president, and so his policy was pro-life,” he said. “Some of those things might have crossed my desk. I can’t remember specifics.”

If confirmed, Kavanaugh could hear a case on abortion in his first term. An array of cases winding their way through the lower courses grapple with various limits on abortion states have sought to enact.

The release of the emails, which were previously available to the committee but were not supposed to be disclosed during the hearing, incensed Republicans, who accused Democrats of defying the rules for political purposes. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) defended the email on Roe, contending Kavanaugh’s comments were motivated by his desire for accuracy.

The new email didn’t spark any immediate concern from two Republican senators who support abortion rights, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. The potential swing votes, who both supported Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation last year, have not yet publicly said how they will vote on Kavanaugh. Their offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the leaked documents.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Graham was the only Republican senator who pushed Kavanaugh to be more forceful about whether the Supreme Court could overturn Roe, arguing that prior justices had far overstepped their judicial authority to provide a right to abortion.

“I hope that one day the court will sit down and think long and hard about the path they’ve charted,” Graham said.

Kavanaugh declined to directly address Graham’s comments, only offering that Roe remains a constitutional ruling.

It’s been a recurring scene in Congress for years: House Freedom Caucus members pushing the government to the brink of a shutdown until their policy demand of the moment is met.

This time, though, some caucus members are actually pleading for cooler heads.

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The rare division among the conservative hardliners — coming, ironically, with fellow rebel Donald Trump in the White House — could help prevent what most of the Republican Party views as a true nightmare scenario weeks before the November election.

Chairman Mark Meadows of North Carolina has argued that entering into a spending battle that could shutter the government in October would be unwise without a cohesive plan, appearing to side with GOP leaders who fear a shutdown before midterms would upend their House majority.

But Freedom Caucus founder and ex-leader Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the more confrontational of the pair, is itching for the battle now before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, eager to force Democrats to vote on Trump’s border wall with Mexico.

“You really think we’re going to get it done after the election? When has that ever happened?” Jordan said off the House floor Wednesday evening. Immigration “was one of the central issues in the campaign and I think it helps our voters understand that we’re fighting for what we said we would do.”

Contrast that with Meadows, who just hours earlier told reporters that “at this point we need to fund the government.”

“I don’t see a deliberate plan on how we secure our border happening by the end of September, and so having that debate over the next three months is probably more prudent than trying to have it in the next week and a half,” Meadows said.

Adding to the confusion is Trump, who on Wednesday afternoon signaled that he’d be willing shut down the government to get funding for the border wall with Mexico — though he also told the Daily Caller Tuesday that he’d wait until after the election to do it.

“If it happens, it happens,” Trump said. “If it’s about border security, I’m willing to do anything.”

It’s a rare break in the group that frequently bands together to maximize their influence. Interviews with more than half-dozen group members showed that some side with Meadows while others think Jordan is right. These sources say the group debated the issue Tuesday night. And since they couldn’t come to an agreement, they took no position on the matter.

Freedom Caucus sources cautioned, however, that the disagreement is tactical, not substantial. Those in the group who want to postpone the fight are just as eager to play chicken with Democrats over Trump’s border wall. The question is one of timing, with these people believing that the fight, which could be bloody and will likely lead to agencies shuttering, would be better off hashed out later.

“The polls showing Republicans maintaining control of the House are not optimistic, and I don’t believe a shutdown helps,” said group member Joe Barton of Texas, who is retiring this year. “So I would not be supportive of anything that results in a shutdown or anything of that nature — and I’m usually one of the more aggressive individuals willing to confront excessive spending and the Senate.”

“I have voted for wall funding, I think it’s necessary and in the end, after the election, I’m fine with forcing the issue,” echoed group member Andy Harris of Maryland, who’s advocated for a delayed fight as well.

Even if the Freedom Caucus wanted the fight now, the group couldn’t do much about it on Capitol Hill. GOP leaders will turn to Democrats to help them pass spending bills, and they won’t need Freedom Caucus votes.

But the group’s leverage on the matter comes from their two leaders, Meadows and Jordan. Both men are close with Trump, who views them as the heart and soul of his base. And the duo has circumvented GOP leaders to lobby Trump on their own positions in the past and won.

Now, without the two men pushing in unison for a showdown now, GOP leaders have a better shot at keeping Trump on message. Republican leaders have been lobbying him to postpones his much-desired shutdown fight over the border wall until the lame-duck session, and without Meadows and Jordan whispering in his ear to do it now, they could avoid a shutdown situation.

Any decision to wait on a shutdown battle, however, doesn’t mean HFC will give leaders a greenlight either. Group members are not expected to support many of the appropriations bills and are already complaining about a leadership decision to combine defense funding they back with Labor and Health and Human Services departments funding bills they despise.

The group’s willingness to delay the fight might have something to do with Trump himself. Freedom Caucus members seemed certain this week that the president would sign a short-term “continuing resolution” for the Homeland Security Department, which effectively delays the wall showdown until after the election. If Trump called them to arms now, they would go with him, some have suggested.

Still, many in the group are upset about the CR strategy and feel they should fight now. Freedom Caucus member Warren Davidson said the House should just pass the president’s priorities and make Senate Democrats vote it down. Trump has asked for $5 billion for his wall. But while the House’s Department of Homelands Security funding bill incudes that amount, the Senate’s, which requires bipartisanship for passage, could only get Democrats to agree to $1.6 billion.

“I think our obligation is [to] put the bills to the Senate that fund our government ahead of October 1 with full year funding, and frankly we should do what we said we would do,” Davidson said. “If the Senate votes and fails, then we can talk about covering for the Senate yet again. But they owe us a vote.”

The group seems to be undecided about how long a CR for the Homeland Security Department should last. Harris said “a CR into December has never resulted in a victory because people want to go home for the holidays” but added that “I still haven’t figured out where I prefer the CR.”

The group also seems to be considering a suggestion to push DHS funding into January, an idea that came up at the HFC meeting Tuesday night. But that comes with certain risk if the Republicans lose the majority Nov. 6.

The postponement might be a sacrifice to get other appropriations bills passed. Meadows noted Wednesday that Democrats wouldn’t vote for any appropriations bills if they thought Republicans would shutdown DHS right before the election. He’s likely right.

“How do you continue to keep a bipartisan appropriations bill in play without alienating some of the Democrats, and so I really believe that the majority of our effort will be spent on border security after November versus in October,” he said.

Still, hearing Meadows and others from the group of rabble-rousers make such arguments is a real change.

A FEW EXCLUSIVE NUGGETS FOR YOU …

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIRMAN MARK MEADOWS, a staunch ally of the president, tells us that he’s had DEMOCRATS reach out to his office about investigating the anonymous op-ed. He wouldn’t say which ones. But the piece is already the subject of intense Hill chatter.

— MEADOWS TELLS US … “We’re evaluating options on how to get to the truth of what happened here, mainly in the interest of protecting national security. We’ve had congressional Democrats reach out to our office about this issue as well — and while we may disagree politically, what many of us do agree on is that efforts within the White House to anonymously sabotage a duly elected president is an act of cowardice and does not serve American taxpayers well.”

CHARLES BARKLEY is coming to Washington. The NBA Hall of Famer is headlining a fundraiser for ALABAMA DEMOCRATIC SEN. DOUG JONES, “Dunking with Doug and Sir Charles,” on Sept. 25 at Sfoglina downtown (the old Casa Luca on 11th Street NW). Cost to attend: $2,500 for the sit-down dinner, or up to $1,000 for the cocktail reception. Barkley himself has toyed with running for public office.

NANCY PELOSI with a helpful notice at the top of her press conference today in the Capitol: EIGHT LEGISLATIVE DAYS until the government runs out of funding.

— PELOSI TO TRUMP … TAKE THAT, POTUS! The House minority leader said PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP “hijacked the term [drain the swamp] and betrayed the mission.” It was the House Democrats’ message in 2006.

SPEAKER PAUL RYAN said he has a “very good agreement” with the president that they’ll keep the government funded.

— DOES CONGRESS HAVE A ROLE IN INVESTIGATING WHO WROTE THE NYT OP-ED? “Not that I know of.” Ryan said the author is “living in dishonesty.”

WAPO’S JOSH ROGIN: “The White House is discussing potential replacements for Jim Mattis”: “Many officials inside the White House and around the administration had already expected that Mattis would leave his post sometime over the next few months, completing a respectably long two-year stint at the helm of the Defense Department. … No decisions have been made. …

“At the top of the list is retired four-star Army Gen. Jack Keane. … Other names under discussion inside the White House include Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ala.), Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), former Treasury Department official David McCormick and former senator Jim Talent of Missouri.” WaPo

— WILL THEY REPLACE MATTIS? Who knows. But Rogin is good, so people are clearly talking about it.

SCOTUS WATCH — “Leaked Documents From Kavanaugh’s Time in White House Discuss Abortion and Affirmative Action,” by NYT’s Charlie Savage: “As a White House lawyer in the Bush administration, Judge Brett Kavanaugh challenged the accuracy of deeming the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision to be “settled law of the land,” according to a secret email obtained by The New York Times. …

“Judge Kavanaugh was considering a draft opinion piece … It stated that ‘it is widely accepted by legal scholars across the board that Roe v. Wade and its progeny are the settled law of the land.’ Judge Kavanaugh proposed deleting that line, writing: ‘I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so.’ … Still, his email stops short of saying whether he personally believed that the abortion rights precedent should be considered a settled legal issue.” NYT

SIREN — “Partisan brawl erupts over ‘confidential’ Kavanaugh docs,” by Elana Schor: “After Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he would release a confidential email on racial profiling he had referred to while questioning Kavanaugh on Wednesday night — describing the gesture as ‘civil disobedience’ and an ‘“I am Spartacus” moment’ – three more Democrats echoed his sentiment.

“Even after Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) openly jabbed Booker as more concerned with his own 2020 ambitions than the chamber’s rules, saying that ‘running for president is no excuse for violating the rules,’ Democrats linked arms in promising to break the confidentiality of the documents.” POLITICO

Good Thursday afternoon. MORE OP-ED FALLOUT — PENCE, POMPEO, COATS, NIELSEN … “Trump officials race to deny they authored ‘resistance’ op-ed,” by Caitlin Oprysko: POLITICO … Other denials: Jim Mattis, Ben Carson, Jeff Sessions, Steven Mnuchin, Nikki Haley, Ajit Pai, FTC Chairman Joe Simons. Melania Trump said the author is “sabotaging” the country.

— SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS weighs in: “The media’s wild obsession with the identity of the anonymous coward is recklessly tarnishing the reputation of thousands of great Americans who proudly serve our country and work for President Trump.

“Stop. If you want to know who this gutless loser is, call the opinion desk of the failing NYT at 212-556-1234, and ask them. They are the only ones complicit in this deceitful act. We stand united together and fully support our President Donald J. Trump.”

SPOTTED: Ivanka Trump in first class on the 10 a.m. American Airlines shuttle to New York … Matt Schlapp and Dan Schneider; Gina Adams and Reggie Love, all separately, on the 8 a.m. Acela from D.C. to New York.

ON THE BORDER … “Trump administration to circumvent court limits on detention of child migrants,” by WaPo’s Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti: “The Trump administration said Thursday it is preparing to circumvent limits on the government’s ability to hold minors in immigration jails by withdrawing from the Flores Settlement Agreement, the federal consent decree that has shaped detention standards for underage migrants since 1997.

“The maneuver is almost certain to land the administration back in court … The changes proposed by the administration would allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand its family detention facilities in order to keep parents and children together in custody for lengthier periods.” WaPo

SIREN — DAVE WASSERMAN (@Redistrict): “More bad headlines for House Rs = two rating changes at @CookPolitical today: #IA01: Rep. Rod Blum (R) – Toss Up to Lean D. #VA02: Rep. Scott Taylor (R) – Lean R to Toss Up.”

HEADLINES THE PRESIDENT WILL LIKE — “Kim Jong-un Says He Wants Denuclearization Before Trump’s Current Term Ends,” by NYT’s Choe Sang-Hun in Seoul: “Expressing frustration over what he called Washington’s failure to negotiate in good faith, Mr. Kim told the [South Korean] envoy, Chung Eui-yong, that he still had confidence in Mr. Trump. He said he had never spoken badly of the American leader, even to his closest aides, since the two met in Singapore on June 12, according to Mr. Chung. …

“Mr. Chung said Mr. Kim had voiced frustration that his commitment to nuclear disarmament … was not taken seriously by much of the world. Mr. Kim said that while North Korea had already taken important steps toward denuclearization, Washington was not doing enough in return, Mr. Chung said.” NYT

ABC’s MIKE LEVINE: “DOJ to announce charges against North Koreans for Sony hack, Wannacry attack”

WHAT’S ON TRUMP’S MIND — @realDonaldTrump at 6:58 a.m.: “Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims ‘unwavering faith in President Trump.’ Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!”

… at 7:19 a.m.: “The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy — & they don’t know what to do. The Economy is booming like never before, Jobs are at Historic Highs, soon TWO Supreme Court Justices & maybe Declassification to find Additional Corruption. Wow!”

… at 7:31 a.m.: “Cosumer [sic] confidence highest in 18 years, Atlanta Fed forecasts 4.7 GDP, manufacturing jobs highest in many years. ‘It’s the story of the Trump Administration, the Economic Success, that’s unnerving his detractors.’ @MariaBartiromo”

2018 WATCH — “The reinvention of Bob Hugin: Amid anger over drug prices, a former pharma CEO makes a run for the Senate,” by Stat’s Damian Garde in Rutherford, New Jersey: “Revlimid, Celgene’s banner cancer drug, costs nearly twice as much today as it did in 2010, the result of repeated price increases. On the eve of Hugin’s retirement, Celgene paid $280 million to settle charges that it defrauded Medicare to boost profits. At a time of widespread foment over drug prices, can a pharma CEO get elected to the U.S. Senate? …

“Hugin’s wealth has turned the New Jersey Senate race into a surprisingly tight and immediately vicious campaign, one that doubles as a referendum on the drug industry’s place in the American psyche. While Hugin runs as a business leader devoted to winning a war on cancer, Menendez insists he’s a pantomime villain of pharmaceutical greed. But Menendez has his own issues.” Stat

— STEVEN SHEPARD in Wilmington, Delaware, and JAMES ARKIN: “Liberal insurgency targets Delaware senator next”: “[Kerri Evelyn] Harris, a 38-year-old Air Force veteran, has slammed [Sen. Tom] Carper for a voting record that she says is too friendly toward banks and pharmaceutical companies, and too hostile toward the environment. But, most of all, Harris — a biracial lesbian who is trying to be the first successful primary challenger of a Democratic senator since 2010 — says Carper and other political leaders are out of touch with everyday Delawareans. …

“But Carper says he isn’t going to be caught flat-footed by Harris’ challenge.” POLITICO

— WSJ’S KRISTINA PETERSON in Lakeville, Ohio: “Kevin McCarthy Hits Trail to Campaign for GOP, Speakership”: “Never known as a policy expert, Mr. McCarthy has long relied on his political intuition, but he will face twin challenges this fall: keeping the House GOP majority and getting elected as its speaker.” WSJ

THE STEP BACK — “Inside the makeover of the Democratic Party,” by AP’s Bill Barrow and Juana Summers: “With just a few primaries remaining before the decisive midterm elections in November, voters have dramatically reshaped the Democratic Party to become younger, more diverse and unquestionably liberal. … For now, Democratic leaders are embracing the enthusiasm of their base — even as it’s unclear where it will lead.” AP

K FILE — “Republican congressman had lengthy dinner with extremist anti-Muslim politician during London trip,” by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Christopher Massie: “Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona attended an hours-long dinner in London in July with an extremist Belgian politician who has a history of inflammatory and racist comments.” CNN

YIKES — “Company using foreign workers botches U.S. Senate campaign finance records,” by the Center for Public Integrity’s Rosie Cima: “Unlike those running for the presidency and U.S. House, U.S. Senate candidates don’t file campaign finance reports electronically — they file on paper, which must then be converted to electronic documents in a process that involves two government agencies, three private companies and countless low-paid workers, many of them overseas, and some who may be hostile toward U.S. interests.

“A bureaucratic Rube Goldberg machine, this document conversion process often spits out bogus, yet official public records that mislead the public and obscure who’s funding U.S. Senate campaigns … A Center for Public Integrity investigation found errors in more than 5,900 candidate disclosures representing over $70 million, all of them traceable to the U.S. government’s conversion of paper into electronic data.

“The government appears closer than ever to passing a law to reform this system: A provision that would finally make Senate e-filing a reality is part of a spending bill now wending its way through Congress. But similar provisions have consistently faltered.” CPI

ROLL CALL’s KATHERINE TULLY-MCMANUS: “House and Senate Interns Set to Receive Pay in Legislative Branch Spending Package”

THE INVESTIGATIONS — “Putin’s ‘Friend’ Had Early Access to Trump’s Infamous Pro-Russia Speech,” by The Daily Beast’s Betsy Woodruff: “[Dimitri] Simes’ proximity to the speech shows that a person Vladimir Putin once called a ‘friend and colleague’ had an early view into the crafting of a speech that would have historic significance for American foreign policy. Democrats on the House intelligence committee tried to investigate Simes’ relationship to Trump’s campaign, but Republican committee chairman Devin Nunes blocked their efforts. …

“The pictures demonstrate that significant changes were made from the speech’s detailed outline to its final version—including the removal of lines condemning bigotry, praising legal immigration, and disparaging Russia.” The Daily Beast

OPIOID FILES — “The United States Is Turning To China For Help Fighting The Opioid Epidemic,” by BuzzFeed’s Emily Tamkin: “U.S. officials say that, while China publicly denies that it’s the source of fentanyl, privately, U.S. and Chinese diplomats and law enforcement officials are cooperating to fight the opioid crisis.” BuzzFeed

THE GUARDIAN’s JON SWAINE: “Trump inauguration crowd photos were edited after he intervened”: “A government photographer edited official pictures of Donald Trump’s inauguration to make the crowd appear bigger following a personal intervention from the president, according to newly released documents. … The detail was revealed in investigative reports released to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act.” The Guardian

GREAT AFTERNOON READ … FIRST PERSON: ELAINA PLOTT in October’s Atlantic, “The Bullet in My Arm: I grew up in a gun-loving town in Alabama. My grandfather’s store sells firearms. But only after I was shot did I begin to understand America’s complicated relationship with guns.” The Atlantic

ON THE WORLD STAGE — “The Buck Stops Here: Europe Seeks Alternative to U.S.-Dominated Financial System,” by Foreign Policy’s Keith Johnson: “In a sign of how serious the breach between Europe and the United States is during the Trump era, senior officials in France and Germany are increasingly planning ways to sidestep U.S. financial dominance and the global sanctions power that goes with it. … [T]he kind of evasive maneuvers usually employed by rogue states are being embraced by key U.S. allies—a sign that the country once relied upon to be the anchor of stability in the global system is now seen as an agent of volatility.” FP

HMM … “Latest Zinke calendars stripped of most details about his meetings,” by CNN’s Sara Ganim, Gregory Wallace and Ellie Kaufman: CNN

REMEMBERING RICH DEVOS — “Amway co-founder and West Michigan philanthropist Rich DeVos has died at age 92”: “DeVos and his lifetime business partner Jay Van Andel started Amway in their Ada basements. The small family firm grew into an international direct sales giant with annual sales now exceeding $8 billion.” WZZM

COMING ATTRACTIONS — WOMEN RULE is hosting a screening of the HBO documentary “The Sentence” on Sept. 13. ANNA will interview the first-time filmmaker Rudy Valdez and his sister Cindy Shank, a mother of three who received a 15-year mandatory sentence. SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UTAH) will also be on hand to give remarks about sentencing reform. RSVP

SPOTTED at the Brew Across America Beer Festival last night in Eastern Market: Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) (who won the 2018 Brew Democracy Cup), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), Katherine Clarke (D-Mass.), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Steve Knight (R-Calif.), Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) and Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), MC Tommy McFly, judges Carrie Budoff Brown, Josh Dawsey, Peter Doocy, Carl Hulse, Kasie Hunt, Paul Kane, Lachlan Markay, Jim McGreevy, Nycci Nellis, Fritz Brogan and Bill Catron.

MEDIAWATCH — “Signal Boost,” a SiriusXM show hosted by former Hillary Clinton aides Zerlina Maxwell and Jess McIntosh, is transitioning from weekly to daily beginning Monday. Guests next week include House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Chelsea Clinton.

TRANSITIONS — Ashley Chang will lead strategic communications for Renewvia Energy. She previously was executive director and head of strategic communications for corporate responsibility at JPMorgan Chase. … Brian McKeon is now adviser for foreign policy and Melanie Fonder Kaye is now communications director at the Biden Foundation. McKeon is an Obama White House and Pentagon alum, and Fonder Kaye was most recently founder and CEO of MFK Strategies.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Carmen Paun, reporter for POLITICO Europe, and Paul Dejesus welcomed Vlad. Pic

— OBAMA ALUMNI — Caroline Berson, director of stakeholder engagement and external affairs at PepsiCo and an Obama NSC, DNI and Treasury alum, and Sol Black, program manager in the office of weapons removal and abatement at the State Department, on Monday welcomed Abigail Wells Black. Pic

• Anna Palmer @apalmerdc
• Jake Sherman @JakeSherman
• Daniel Lippman @dlippman
• Eli Okun @eliokun

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