Welcome to the Jim Acosta Morning Memo on a Friday that caps off a week of Harping on the same story — which keeps getting weirder. But there’s lots more going on, so pull a stool up to the breakfast bar and JAMM with us.
The Melania Offensive: Yesterday, we covered the media-assisted PR job being done by the first lady and her staff, spinning her consistent absence and ignoring the Natalie Harp drama.
Hours later, Melania popped up for a photo op in the Rose Garden, where she performed a handhold with Trump and opened with a joke.
“I heard you missed me! (LAUGHTER) Here I am.”
Dear Donald: Two of Natalie Harp’s letters to Donald Trump have been released in full, which we covered earlier. That makes it a great time to check out our interview with Maggie Haberman, who talked about those letters and a whole lot more.
The Secret Service was alarmed in part because she had left him these letters in his personal space, as Jonathan wrote about the book, one of which said, “You know, you’re all that matters to me.” You know, they were very emotional, and she is the most devoted of his aides.
So the way that I look at it, Jim, is that she is the purest distillation of how Trump has totally remade the presidency for term two.
We will have more from Maggie later.
More Knives For Natalie: Add The Atlantic’s Jonathan Lemire to the pile of journos with deep dives and Trump insiders grumbling about Natalie Harp.
She trawls social media for material that the president can use in his feeds, including posts that have led to trouble, such as one depicting the Obamas as apes. Some aides have quietly grumbled to those I spoke with that Harp is too inexperienced to have such unfettered access to the president.
d
Rosie Ratings: Rosie O’Donnell is crushing it in the ratings as she fills in for Jimmy Kimmel this week — even beating Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.
O’Donnell’s first night guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! drew 1.87 million total viewers Monday, according to preliminary Nielsen Live+Same Day figures—the biggest audience for any of Kimmel’s guest hosts so far this summer.
That was also enough to beat NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. And among the late-night shows tracked by LateNighter, O’Donnell led the key adults 18–49 demo, drawing 218,000 viewers compared with 156,000 for Fallon.
Rosie took another brutal jab at Trump last night.
Thanks to everyone who's been watching this week, especially the hungry, hungry hypocrite in the White House. Kind of weird to think he spent more nights with me this week than Melania.
The Math Isn’t Mathing, Scott: Aaron Rupar put together a great supercut of Scott Bessent BS, but this bit of logic was just breathtaking.
The jobs that we’re seeing are going to Americans after the Deportations that we’ve seen during President Trump’s administration and the closing of the border that like that this unfettered migration we don’t need to produce as many jobs.
Trump’s economy lost 23,000 jobs in the last jobs report, so what jobs are Americans supposedly gaining here?
Trump And Cohen Scurry Back Together: If you just can’t wait to hear the full reunion of Trump and Michael Cohen, WABC77 radio has a 15-minute preview chock full of shared lies and delusions like this one.
TRUMP: Well, you’re gonna go down as a man with courage, and frankly, you weren’t there when you did the other, but you’re gonna go down as a man of, of courage, great courage, because you did something that a lot of people wouldn’t have the guts to do
Hegseth’s Binky: Natalie Harp has completely eclipsed the “bonkers” NY Times story about the role that Pete Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, plays at the Pentagon.
“It’s bonkers that a defense secretary would involve his wife in his sensitive official duties, including sharing details of an impending military operation, and face zero consequences,” said John Ullyot, who left the Pentagon as chief spokesman after three months working under Mr. Hegseth and has been critical of his leadership. “Any president deserves better judgment from his national security leaders.”
Trash Take Of The Day:
