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Political Cornflakes: How do White House aides deal with Trump’s tweets? They ignore them

President Donald Trump listens to Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

How do White House aides deal with Trump’s tweets? They ignore them. Love hits McAdams in new ad. Cox criticizes Trump over Puerto Rico tweet.

Happy Friday. White House officials are learning the best way to deal with President Donald Trump’s barrage of tweets that are sometimes at best misleading and sometimes outright false. How do they cope? They ignore them. After 20 months of failed efforts to corral the president, aides figure it’s best to let the president – who has long viewed himself as his best spokesman, strategist and negotiator – say what he wants to say and move on. [Politico]

Topping the news: Rep. Mia Love released her first negative TV ad towards SL Co. Mayor Ben McAdams, attacking him for claiming to be a fiscal conservative. Direct attacks are characteristic of close races, and as November looms closer the Love-McAdams battle is getting more personal. [Trib]

-> Spencer Cox, Utah’s Republican Lt. Gov., lashed back Thursday against President Donald Trump’s claims that the Puerto Rican hurricane-related death toll was in double digits last year, unlike the estimated 3,000 that has been publicized. [Trib]

A new poll by utahpolicy.com has revealed that most Salt Lake City voters don’t think Mayor Jackie Biskupski should run for another term in 2019. [Trib] [UtahPolicy] [DNews]

Tweets of the day: From @BenjySarlin: “What’s crazy is the idea a surge in deaths AFTER the initial hurricane somehow lets the government off the hook rather than indicates a failure to respond to the aftermath."

In other news: Mayor Biskupski will join the mayors, governors, businessmen, and activists meeting in a California summit dedicated to continuing the United States down the path to clean energy and reducing climate change. Biskupski said that Utahns can feel the effects of climate change from reduced snowpack, severe droughts, and wildfire. [KUTV]

-> A House committee agreed on Thursday to reauthorize a long-standing program to preserve public lands and raise funding to chip away at multi-billion dollar maintenance needs for the national parks. [Trib]

-> Facing more than 100 citizens on a Draper City Council hearing for Geneva Rock’s gravel pit expansion proposal, the company pitched an idea completely different from its original proposal causing the meeting to be delayed until it can re-apply with the new proposal. [Trib]

-> The latest Census data reveals that West Valley City now has a “majority minority” population, with minorities making up 51.4% of the population and whites making up 48.6%. Councilman Jake Fitisemanu pointed out that though minority populations make up the majority now, there are so many different subsets within that number that most minorities still don’t feel like a part of the majority. [Trib] [DNews]

-> The Census info also ranks Utah as No. 1 in the country for equality of incomes -- the middle class sizable, with fewer people falling in very rich or very poor categories. The number of members in the middle class is shrinking in Utah just as it is in the rest of the country, but at a notably slower rate. [Trib]

-> In a follow-up to claims made by President Donald Trump in Bob Woodward’s latest book, Mitt Romney says that he lost the 2012 presidential race against Barack Obama for a variety of reasons but “jinxing” was not one of them. [DNews]

-> Utah’s well-populated Washington County is making the switch to mail-in ballots in hopes of increasing voter turnout. [KUTV]

-> Tribune columnist Robert Gehrke urged Utah citizens to stop watching polls and start watching candidates: the race between Love and McAdams will be a close one. [Trib]

-> Pat Bagley illustrated Trump turning his back on deceased Hurricane Maria victims, tweeting extensively instead. [Trib]

Nationally: President Trump accused Democrats of inflating the death toll in Puerto Rico in direct rejection of the government’s assessment that around 3,000 hurricane-related deaths had occurred. The president believes Democrats are trying to “make him look as bad as possible." [BBC][NYTimes][Politico][WSJ]

-> A top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee referred a letter about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to federal investigators on Thursday. The information is not yet public, however some anonymous sources suggested that it might relate to an interaction with a female classmate when Kavanaugh was in high school. [WSJ][Politico][NYTimes]

-> House and Senate spending leaders struck a deal Thursday on a huge package dedicated to funding two-thirds of the government with non-partisan language, meaning that they will be avoiding actions like defunding Planned Parenthood or destabilizing Obamacare. If Trump decides to veto this bill, it will lead to a government shutdown. [Politico]

-> Trump’s administration sent a notice to Congress that it intends to take $20 million in foreign assistance funds to help Mexico pay for the plane and bus fares necessary to deport foreign immigrants who might be entering Mexico in order to get to the U.S. border. Trump believes this move may help alleviate some of the flood of immigrants in to the US. [NYTimes]

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-- Thomas Burr and Cara MacDonald

https://twitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/carammacdonald