Trump takes credit for strong stock market, rails against potential border deal
Trump took credit for the strong stock market, claiming on Truth Social that it's performing well because "investors are projecting that I will win" the 2024 election.
"And that will drive the market up — everything else is terrible (watch the Middle East!), and record setting inflation has already taken its toll. Make America Great Again!!!" the former president wrote in all caps.
Inflation has slowed, however, in recent weeks and the economy has improved.
He also blasted the potential compromise on legislation to address the border crisis, saying that a bill "is not necessary to stop the millions of people, many from jails and mental institutions located all over the World, that are POURING INTO OUR COUNTRY," repeating a claim he has made regarding the mental health and criminal component of migrants in the past without providing evidence.
"It is an INVASION the likes of which no Country has ever had to endure," Trump continued. "It is not sustainable or affordable, and will, under Crooked Joe Biden, ONLY GET WORSE."
Trump went on to claim, again without evidence, that the border under his tenure was "the safest and most secure" in history.
"I didn’t need a 'Bill!'" he said. "They are using this horrific Senate Bill as a way of being able to put the BORDER DISASTER onto the shoulders of the Republicans. The Democrats BROKE THE BORDER, they should fix it. NO LEGISLATION IS NEEDED, IT’S ALREADY THERE!!!"
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., joins "Meet the Press" exclusively to discuss Biden’s re-election campaign and the divide within the Democratic Party over the war in Gaza.
First-of-its-kind campaign fundraiser in the works with Clinton, Obama and Biden
Biden’s campaign is trying to organize a first-of-its-kind fundraiser that officials hope would be lucrative and headline-grabbing, but also energizing for Democratic voters who so far have not shown enthusiasm for the party’s 2024 ticket, according to four people familiar with the planning.
The idea is for three Democratic presidents — Biden, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — to appear together at a fundraiser this spring, the four people familiar with the discussions said.
Discussions are underway to coordinate the presidents’ schedules, these people said, though no date has been set. The fundraiser would likely take place in March or April, two of the sources familiar with the discussions said.
Haley says the RNC is ‘clearly not’ an honest broker after calls to unify around Trump in primary
Haley blasted the Republican National Committee on Sunday, saying it was not an honest broker in the party’s 2024 primary race.
In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Haley, the last remaining major GOP opponent to Trump, said the RNC was “clearly not” playing fairly.
“Do you think the RNC has been an honest broker in this case?” moderator Kristen Welker asked.
Haley replied, “I mean, clearly not.”
“If you’re gonna go in and basically tell the American people that you’re gonna go and decide who the nominee is after only two states have voted? I mean, 48 states out there?” she said. “This is a democracy. The American people want to have their say in who is going to be their nominee. We need to give them that.”
GOP super PAC makes first major Senate investment
The Senate Leadership Fund, the top GOP super PAC involved in Senate races, and an aligned group are making their first major investments in a Senate battleground, spending nearly $50 million on ads for the fall in Montana.
Senate Leadership Fund is reserving $24.6 million on the Montana airwaves, while American Crossroads is reserving $23.3 million, according to ad spending figures shared first with NBC News. The ads are slated to start Sept. 3 and run through Election Day.
"We’re optimistic about Montana because 18 years in Washington has changed Jon Tester," Senate Leadership Fund President and CEO Steven Law said in a statement. "His party bosses have already spent millions on TV ads trying to prop up Tester because he is such a compliant vote for Joe Biden’s extreme agenda."
Montana is a top target for Republicans looking to take control of the Senate, as one of three states Democrats are defending that Trump won in 2020. Trump carried the state by about 16 percentage points four years ago. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester won re-election by about 4 points in 2018.
Former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy is already in the GOP race to take on Tester, and he has support from top Republicans, including National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines, R-Mont. But GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale, whom Tester defeated in 2018, has also been teasing a potential run.
The top Democratic group involved in Senate races, Senate Majority PAC, is also making an early investment in Montana for the fall, reserving $27 million in Montana, Politico reported.
Inside the White House, confidence grows that a strong economy will sell itself to Americans
After a year of recession doomsaying, an unexpectedly resilient economy is boosting the White House as it ramps up selling its record to Americans who’ve just started shaking off their “vibecession.”
At the same time, senior administration officials say they’re increasingly confident the situation on the ground can largely speak for itself. The economy grew at a strong 3.1% pace between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the same period last year, every inflation measure is cooling, the job market remains strong and the stock market has hit record highs.
“Extraordinary” is how Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, described the economy to reporters at the White House on Friday.
“We looked historically — we’ve never had a year where inflation has declined this fast while the economy has grown above trend and unemployment has remained stable at a low rate,” she said.
Eyes on November: Weekend campaigning for Biden, Trump and Haley
Biden, Trump and Haley all hit the campaign trail over the weekend with primaries in both parties fast approaching.
Biden traveled to South Carolina, where he attended the state Democratic Party’s “First in the Nation” dinner ahead of the Palmetto State’s Feb. 3 Democratic primary. Biden stressed his work to bolster Black Americans and said democracy “really is at stake for the first time in a long time.”
Trump, meanwhile, traveled to Las Vegas on Saturday for a rally ahead of the state’s Feb. 8 caucuses (as a reminder, Haley is participating in the Feb. 6 primary instead of the caucuses, so she will not be able to earn any delegates awarded through the results of those caucuses).
Trump focused most of his speech on the southern border, but briefly referenced the Friday ruling that he must pay $83 million in damages to writer E. Jean Carroll as part of the defamation trial, decrying it as “election interference,” per NBC’s Jake Traylor.
Haley held two rallies in her home state of South Carolina, which will hold its GOP primary on Feb. 24. She sharpened her attacks against Trump, imploring him to “man up” and debate her, and criticizing his “temper tantrums,” per NBC’s Sarah Dean.
Democrats endorse their first slate of challengers in the fight for the House majority
House Democrats are officially announcing their first 17 candidates to take on Republicans in competitive districts Monday, launching the “red-to-blue” program as part of a quest to regain control of the chamber this fall.
The candidates hail from districts that were hotly contested in the 2022 election and are likely to decide the majority in November. Some, but not all, were carried by President Joe Biden in 2020.
The announcement, first reported by NBC News, gives these contenders the official stamp of approval from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, planting a flag with donors, activists and party loyalists about whom they see as best positioned to win in critical districts.
Haley campaign says it raised $4 million since N.H. primary
The Haley campaign said it had its best week of fundraising of the entire campaign, bringing in $4 million since the last Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.
That total includes $1 million in the 24 hours after the New Hampshire primary, $1.6 million after Trump’s threat to “permanently bar” Haley donors from the MAGA movement, and $1.4 million after news of the now-withdrawn RNC resolution to declare Trump the presumptive nominee.
Haley sets her bar for South Carolina
Haley said she doesn’t have to beat Trump in South Carolina; all she has to do is perform better there than she did in New Hampshire last week.
That’s the bar Haley set for herself in her interview Sunday on “Meet the Press,” after NBC’s Kristen Welker asked the former U.N. ambassador if she needed to win her home state of South Carolina next month to stay in the race.
“What I do think I need to do is I need to show that I’m building momentum. I need to show that I’m stronger in South Carolina than New Hampshire,” Haley answered. “Does that have to be a win? I don’t think that necessarily has to be a win. But it certainly has to be better than what I did in New Hampshire, and it certainly has to be close.”
If you recall, Haley got 43% of the vote in New Hampshire — so she’s saying she needs to capture at least 44% of the GOP primary vote in South Carolina.
If you also recall, there are fewer moderates and independents who are expected to participate in South Carolina than we saw in New Hampshire — so getting 44% might be harder for her than it sounds.
Even if you consider it a low bar, given that South Carolina is her home state and that she’s already 0-2 versus Trump.