CONGRESS/MICHAEL COHEN/NORTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VIETNAM: “It was a moment of diplomatic stagecraft months in the making. But it didn’t take long for President Donald Trump’s domestic troubles to get in the way. As Trump sat alongside the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, at a luxury hotel here, he was immediately confronted by the explosive allegations that his former longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, planned to deliver to lawmakers in Washington later Wednesday [2-27-19]…Later Wednesday, the White House announced that it was limiting the number of reporters who would be permitted to attend a portion of Trump’s dinner with Kim ‘due to the sensitive nature of the meetings.’ As he has worked to turn President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Kim of North Korea from foes into friends, and to rebalance the United States’ relationship with China, scandals at home have repeatedly intruded on Trump, creating dueling headlines and distracting a president who pays inordinate attention to the news coverage of his presidency.”
–Eliana Johnson, Andrew Restuccia and Rebecca Morin, “Trump dogged by Cohen’s explosive allegations as he meets with Kim,” Politico, February 27, 2019 8:27 am