6am – A/B/C TRUMP’S PRESS GAGGLE HIGHLIGHTS:
REPORTERS WHINE ABOUT HOT GAGGLE: Bloomberg's JENNIFER JACOBS: That sweaty gaggle lasted nearly 40 minutes in almost 90 degree DC heat. One reporter’s cellphone auto-shut down due to the hot temperature, midway through Trump’s remarks.
TRUMP ON RECESSION TALK: "The fake news, of which many of you are members, is trying to convince the public to have a recession. 'Let's have a recession!'
TRUMP’S CONTROVERSIAL ‘CHOSEN ONE’ COMMENT: Donald Trump looked to the sky with his hands raised and said, "I am the chosen one," as he defended his administration's tough stance on trade with China and slammed past U.S. presidents.
DENMARK:
ON MONDAY: "Thankfully, the time where you buy and sell other countries and populations is over," Denmark's PM says of Trump's interest in purchasing Greenland
ON TUESDAY: President Trump tweets that he is "postponing" his upcoming meeting with Danish PM Mette Frederiksen based on her comments "that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland." The US president has been expected to visit Denmark in early September.
Danish PM is 'annoyed and surprised' that Trump cancelled his visit but claims the invitation 'remains open'
ON WEDNESDAY: Trump says that Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's comment that his idea of buying Greenland is 'absurd' was "nasty" and a "very not nice way of saying something."
BACKGROUND CHECKS: President Trump on background checks: “I have an appetite for background checks ... we already have very strong background checks but we are going to be filling in some of the loopholes”
TRUMP ON TAX CUTS: President Trump: "I'm not looking at a tax cut now, we don't need it, we have a strong economy."
TRUMP RIPS NBC: OUCH: Trump Tattoos NBC, Alexander as ‘Organ of the Democrats,’ Worse Than CNN
BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: President Trump says the administration is considering an executive order that ends birthright citizenship, putting an end to children born in the U.S. whose parents are illegal immigrants automatically becoming U.S. citizens. The White House also announced plans to allow migrant families to be held indefinitely, rather than a maximum of 20 days. President Trump: "We are looking at birthright citizenship very seriously. ... It's frankly ridiculous"
6am – D CONTROVERSY OVER SEAN SPICER JOINING DWTS:
'Dancing With the Stars' host Tom Bergeron slams politically 'divisive bookings' after Sean Spicer is cast. (Fox News) Tom Bergeron, the longtime host of "Dancing With the Stars," was disappointed in this season's casting. He took to social media on Wednesday to post a lengthy statement explaining his feelings about which "celebrities" will be featured on Season 28 of the hit reality competition series, in particular referring to how Sean Spicer, President Donald Trump’s former White House press secretary, is a contestant. Bergeron wrote how he hoped the new season “would be a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations.” "We can all agree to disagree, as we do now, but ultimately it's their call," he continued. "I'll leave it to them to answer any further questions about those decisions." Bergeron made a pledge to the show's fans: "For me, as host, I always gaze into the camera's lens and imagine you on the other side, looking for a two-hour escape from whatever life hassles you've been wrestling with. That's a connection and a responsibility which I take very seriously, even if I occasionally season it with dad jokes." In response to Bergeron's post, "DWTS" executive producer, Andrew Llinares, told Fox News in a statement on Wednesday: "We’ve got a great and diverse cast. We are excited about the season."
Sean Spicer Fires Back at Critics of His New Gig on Dancing With the Stars: ‘I’m Very Comfortable With Who I Am.’ (Mediaite) - Sean Spicer, former White House press secretary and future contestant on Dancing With the Stars, responded to his critics in in interview with Mediaite. “This is an opportunity to have some fun,” Spicer told Mediaite by phone on Wednesday evening. New York Times T.V. critic James Poniewozik, in a blistering piece characterizing Spicer as a professional liar, argued that to treat him “as a harmless joke is to whitewash the harm of what he did, which was to say things so absurdly false that he invited his political side to join him in denying their own eyeballs, to encourage people to believe that facts don’t matter if they hurt your team.” “Letting Sean Spicer tango onto prime time this fall is not the largest disgrace of all time. But it’s still a disgrace,” Poniewozik wrote, ending his piece with an infamous Spicerism: “Period.” “I’ve never really cared what they think,” Spicer told Mediaite of the New York Times. “I’m not going to care now.” Spicer insisted he’s not joining the game show to normalize his past or, as Poniewozik put it, “tap-dance out of infamy.”
Here's who else will be competing on DWTS:
Lauren Alaina - Country singer and Season 10 runner-up on "American Idol"
Christie Brinkley - Former supermodel and actress
Ally Brooke - Pop singer and member of the girl group Fifth Harmony
Hannah Brown - The most recent star of "The Bachelorette"
Karamo Brown - Culture expert on the Netflix reality series "Queer Eye"
Kate Flannery - Actress and former star on "The Office"
Ray Lewis - NFL legend and sportscaster / Lewis, an NFL Hall of Famer who will no doubt use his airtime to spout religious platitudes and recreate his patented “Squirrel” dance. Just don’t expect him to give a full accounting of his role in the stabbing deaths of two men outside a nightclub in 2000. Lewis was initially charged with murder, but the charges were dropped and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice.
Kel Mitchell - Actor and former Nickelodeon star who was one half of "Kenan and Kel"
Lamar Odom - Former NBA player, reality star and Khloe Kardashian's ex-husband/ Odom, billed as a “former NBA star” but best known for nearly dying in a Nevada brothel after binging on cocaine and a Viagra-like drug. Oh, and being married to a Kardashian.
James Van Der Beek - Actor and former star of "Dawson's Creek"
Mary Wilson - Singer and former member of The Supremes
6am – E/F People are reliving schoolyard memories with tetherball, hopscotch and Lincoln Logs, despite sore muscles and tweaked knees. (WSJ) -- SAN FRANCISCO—Colleen Fazio remembers being scared while playing dodgeball in grade school. Two decades later, not much had changed. “I had the same childish fear as I did in grade school, making it honestly pretty similar to grade school and not that different,” the 24-year-old Ms. Fazio said after a dodgeball match against fellow grown-ups. “Everyone was just older.” Adults are reliving their playground memories—the good ones and the bad ones—at what’s become known as “adult recess.” Athleticism is nice, but totally not necessary. “One of my teammates sometimes will insist on playing dodgeball or kickball with a bag of Cheetos Puffs in one hand,” said 27-year-old Christine Clinton, playing on the same dodgeball field as Ms. Fazio. In Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park, about 1,000 men and women turned out for an adult recess one Saturday earlier this month that included kickball, hopscotch and tetherball, along with chicken nuggets and grilled cheese sandwiches. “I thought back to the last time when I really had fun, and it was these games when I was a kid,” said Clay Lundquist, managing director of Center Stage Entertainment Marketing, which produced the recess. In Greensboro, N.C., the city decided to put on an adult recess program at the local Barber Park to help celebrate national Park and Recreation Month in July. The games included Twister, four square and tetherball. “When we were doing this, I said we have to have tetherball, which was always my favorite,” said Jennifer Hance, community engagement director for Greensboro’s parks department. “I oddly did remember you have to wrap it around the pole before the other person did.” The turnout of 600 surpassed the city’s goal of 500. Not quite everything was a hit. “We didn’t have as many people hula hoop as we would have thought,” Ms. Hance said. Adult recess has proven so popular in the central Indiana cities of Kokomo and Tipton that the local United Way added more adult recess events during the year like those it first sponsored last September. Seeking to muster enthusiasm for games including cornhole—a particular crowd favorite—United Way spokeswoman Bailey Franklin wrote on an online flier: “Do you remember the feeling you had as a child from the recess bell?” Some recesses have been brought indoors, such as in Akron, Ohio, where a library branch last year began hosting a monthly adult recess for up to 30 participants who play with Tinkertoys and Lincoln Logs, Silly Putty and Play-Doh.