Trump started the day with a call to the boss. Michael Crowley at NYT:
President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia spoke by telephone on Monday, two days after Mr. Trump said he would invite Mr. Putin to attend a Group of 7 summit in the United States in September, the latest instance of a renewed round of personal diplomacy between the two leaders this year.
Hours after the Kremlin first described the call on its website, the White House released a statement saying that the men had discussed “the latest efforts to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and reopen global economies” and “progress toward convening the G7.” A largely similar Kremlin readout said Mr. Trump had initiated the call, and a senior White House official said Mr. Trump had extended a personal invitation to Mr. Putin to attend the gathering, which the president will host.Robert Costa, Seung Min Kim and Josh Dawsey at WP:
President Trump on Monday berated the nation’s governors during a conference call, describing them as “weak” in the face of growing racial unrest and urging them to take an aggressive stand against unruly protests.
Trump told governors that if they don’t take back the streets and use force to confront protesters they would look like “fools,” alarming several governors on the call as they communicated privately.
“You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time,” he said. “They’re going to run over you. You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks.”
And he topped it off:
President Trump demanded governors deploy troops to "dominate the streets." Then he walked through a park cleared of protesters by tear gas to pose in front of a church.— The Associated Press (@AP) June 2, 2020
Throughout Washington, D.C., and the United States, protests continued to rage. https://t.co/ys5Qs6QoIG
