“He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.”
The reporters scribbled and tweeted furiously; the congressmen furrowed their brows, looking grave; the newsrooms paused, then sharply clipped and boxed the quote.
Good morning.
We have become desensitised to the malign carnival in Washington, jaded by each step downwards into the moral and political gutter. But even by the Borgian standards of the Trump presidency, here was a moment.
Trump’s lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, has turned on him, and he singin’ like a canary. Cohen has been Trump’s greaser-in-chief for a decade and a half. He doesn’t just know where the bodies are buried; he dug many of the graves himself.
"A nasty, public breakup of a New York relationship forged over a decade that was a mix of the bond between a father and son, the professional distance of a lawyer and client, and the blind loyalty of a mafia henchman to a crime boss," the New York Times summarised.
On the other hand, Cohen is obviously a liar and a cheat himself, a fact he wisely acknowledged yesterday. After all, the last time he was before the ladies and gentlemen (we use the terms advisedly) of the United States Congress, he was lying his head off to them.
Our Washington correspondent, Suzanne Lynch, has a comprehensive report here. The most damaging testimony from Cohen, she writes, indicated Trump knew in advance about a WikiLeaks dump of stolen emails from senior Democrats, that he pursued plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow deep into the 2016 campaign and that he was directly involved in reimbursing Cohen for hush-money payments.
Meanwhile, as if the tale couldn’t get any stranger, Trump was on the other side of the world taking part in a summit with Kim Jong Un, the brutal dictator of hermit kingdom North Korea.
Less than two years since Trump threatened “rocket man” with “fire and fury”, the US president now refers to Kim as his “friend” and even said that they “fell in love” after he received “beautiful” letters from Kim.
Having missed out on a trip to Vietnam in the 1960s owing to a sore knee, Trump has decided he likes it in Vietnam, which is hosting the summit, now. “Just arrived in Vietnam. Thank you to all of the people for the great reception in Hanoi. Tremendous crowds, and so much love!” the president tweeted on arrival.
Well, as Damon Runyon observed, he who tooteth not his own horn, the same shall not be tooted.
Latest reports this morning reveal the summit was cut short without agreement between the leaders.
Beware the Ides of Brexit
Meanwhile, in London, the other great political omnishambles of the age is, after weeks of stasis, moving on. The House of Commons voted overwhelmingly to give itself the option to delay Brexit if Mrs May cannot agree a deal in the next fortnight to leave the EU on March 29th.
As Denis Staunton reports, just 20 hardline Brexiteers voted against the amendment tabled by Labour's Yvette Cooper that the government agreed to support.
The prime minister has promised to put her Brexit deal to a “meaningful vote” by March 12th and, if it is rejected, to allow MPs to vote by March 13th on whether they want to leave the EU without a deal on March 29th.
If the Commons rejects a no-deal Brexit it will be able to vote on March 14th to tell the government to seek an extension to the article 50 negotiating deadline.
The next day, the 15th, is the Ides of March. You can make the next observation yourself. We can’t be doing all the work for you.
The ground in Westminster has clearly shifted these past days in favour of a deal and a soft Brexit, but we are not there yet, not by any stretch of the imagination. A tweak to the backstop is still likely to be needed to pass the deal in Westminster - and as we report today that is a long way from being agreed.
Much of the above is discussed by Denis, Hugh Linehan and yours truly on our podcast.
On the home front
There are several important domestic stories knocking about this morning, too. Our lead story is Jack Power's latest on fallout from the child-sex abuse scandals at Scouting Ireland.
Also on the front page, Harry McGee says the Public Accounts Committee, the Oireachtas's version of a hangin' judge, may have its wings clipped as a result of yesterday's Supreme Court judgment in the Angela Kerins case.
And we also report the Government remains divided on whether to proceed with the National Broadband Plan, as the Taoiseach admits to the Dáil that the costs have escalated to a multiple of the original estimates. Brexit aside, this is one of the trickiest political problems facing the Government in its final phase.
Best reads
Stephen Collins is clear: as soon as Brexit is settled, it's time for a general election.
Still on Brexit and as the endgame nears, Denis Staunton says the DUP is pivotal now.
Miriam says broadband is a red-hot potato of a differently dangerous kind.
The Guardian on the acute dangers of the India-Pakistan skirmishes.
Good point from Ella Whelan on the dangers of a second referendum in the UK.
Playbook
The Taoiseach and Tanaiste are out in UCD to unveil a new policy on overseas aid, which is in the process of a significant expansion. The four themes are gender equality, climate action, good governance and combating poverty. They had better make sure they don’t get these mixed up and end up promoting gender governance and good poverty and combating equality.
It's a busy day in the Dáil with finance and Leaders' Questions, the weekly votes and matters Brexity, inter alia. The Taoiseach is also in at the committee that does oversight on his department in the afternoon. Full details are here.
And that's it for the morning, and for the week from the digest. Keep in touch with politics local, national, international and intergalactic on irishtimes.com. Don't forget to listen to the podcasts.
Observe the trials of the Donald and remember the words of scripture: There is no peace, sayeth the Lord, unto the wicked.
Be of good cheer (but not irritatingly so). Watch out for Momo. Register to vote. And whatever you do, have an utterly, tremendously, fruity day.
