Depending on who you ask, President Trump was either "happy" with acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney admitting on Thursday that President Trump used military aid as leverage to pressure Ukraine into launching an investigation into Democrats, or enraged.
Mulvaney made the jaw-dropping acknowledgment during a press conference, shortly after making another astounding announcement: that next year's G7 summit will be held at Trump's Doral resort in Miami. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman reported Thursday night that Mulvaney was told to break the Doral news because aides thought it would look bad if Trump did it, plus he could field a few Ukraine questions.
People with knowledge of the matter said Mulvaney was prepared to go "a certain way on Ukraine, but wasn't supposed to suggest a quid pro quo," Haberman reported. Trump apparently saw some of the press conference, and was "happy with how Mulvaney did and sent him that message," she added, but Trump's legal team was irate, and advisers told him that Mulvaney's admission was a major problem. Trump told his advisers to handle it, Haberman said, and Mulvaney worked with the White House communications team to come up with a retraction to his public admission.
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Two CNN reporters are hearing things a little differently. Shimon Prokupecz tweeted that Mulvaney only had a short briefing with White House aides regarding impeachment questions, and they "did not expect he would go as far as he did in describing the freeze of aid to Ukraine." His colleague Jim Acosta was told that Trump was "not happy" with Mulvaney's performance. If Mulvaney is out by Halloween, we'll know where Trump stands.
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