The Trump administration is scrapping plans for a $1.8 billion fund to compensate the Republican president’s allies, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said after a fierce political backlash threatened to stall key elements of the White House agenda. But Blanche said they’re sticking with a deal to permanently drop tax claims against President Donald Trump, an extraordinary flex of executive power that could help shield the president from further examination of his finances and legal conduct.
Most of the GOP primary challengers Trump has endorsed as he culls his party of politicians deemed insufficiently loyal have been successful, knocking off incumbents in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas, but in a setback Tuesday night, he couldn’t lift Rep. Randy Feenstra to victory in Iowa’s Republican primary for governor, setting up what Democrats see as one of their best opportunities to pick up a governorship this year. See other AP coverage of Tuesday’s primary results here.
