By Emily Goodin
 

President Trump wraps up his 17-day vacation next week and it has not lacked for news.

He held a media availability Thursday, in which he doubled down on his tough talk against North Korea, renewed his criticism of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and declared the opioid crisis a national emergency.

On Wednesday, Trump warned: "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

On Thursday, he said “that statement may not be tough enough.”

And on Friday he tweeted: “Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely.  Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!” https://tinyurl.com/y8gxsc9m

RealClearPolitics’ Alexis Simendinger reports: “Trump declined to be more specific about any potential use of force or reliance on alternatives to military action, but said he continued to believe China could intervene with Pyongyang.” https://tinyurl.com/y6w9khet

Trump also had strong words (and tweets) this week for McConnell, his own party leader: “I just want him to get repeal and replace done.  I’ve been hearing repeal and replace now for seven years, but I’ve only been doing this for two years.  And I’ve really only been doing this for six months.  But I’ve been running, so now it’s almost two years.  And all I hear is repeal and replace, and then I get there and I said, ‘Where is the bill?  I want to sign it’ -- first day -- and they don’t have it,” he said Thursday.

RCP’s James Arkin notes: “Trump and McConnell have had a relatively low-key, cordial relationship, both during the 2016 campaign and in the early months of Trump’s presidency. Though Trump has occasionally called for the Senate leader to eliminate the legislative filibuster and McConnell has several times said he’s no fan of the president’s tweeting habit, they have otherwise avoided the public conflicts Trump has had with other Republicans. But this week’s feud opens a new rift at a precarious time for GOP lawmakers, who went home frustrated by their lack of progress and concerned about their ability to pass signature items in the months ahead.” https://tinyurl.com/y9j6pb7z

And the president declared, for the first time, the opioid crisis to be a national emergency. “It is an emergency.  It's a national emergency.  We’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot effort, and a lot of money on the opioid crisis,” he said Thursday.

Topics du Jour

TRUMP JOB APPROVAL: The president’s job approval is at a negative-18.6 points in the RCP Polling Average. http://bit.ly/2slB9gm
 
BOOK CLUB: Washington Bureau Chief Carl Cannon talks about his new book, “On This Date”: https://tinyurl.com/ycumnj3z
 
And RealClearBooks editor John Waters talks to author Brian Van Reet about literature and war. https://tinyurl.com/yca2x8kb
 
VETERAN RECRUITMENT: At RealClearDefense, Pentagon correspondent Sandra Erwin reports that tech companies view “military veterans as an untapped talent pool. About 200,000 service members leave the military each year. Meanwhile, technology firms are creating more jobs than can be filled by college and university graduates.” https://tinyurl.com/y8hmp7mq
 
SHIFT TO STATES: RealClearEducation editor Christopher Beach examines how Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is scaling back federal education plans to let states take the lead. https://tinyurl.com/ya766gd5
 
THE PERFECT STORM: At RealClearWorld, Stratfor’s Reva Goujon examines the “perfect storm” brewing in American foreign policy: “The unique collection of foreign policy challenges facing the United States today will require a particularly deft hand to address as Washington looks to parse the unavoidable disputes from the avoidable ones, and to prepare Americans for them. But the ongoing power struggle between the ideologues and professionals on the White House's policy team seems certain to only intensify, leaving little room for strategic planning and ample room for error in some of the world's most pressing conflicts.” https://tinyurl.com/y9w6cgjy
 

In Other Originals

THE PEOPLE’S BUDGET: At RealClearPolicy, professors John Merrifield & Barry Poulson argue about the budget process: If “Congress and the president cannot impose fiscal discipline, citizens should do so with new fiscal rules. In so doing, the United States would follow the precedent set in European countries, enacting balanced budget requirements and expenditure limits as constitutional and statutory measures. ‘No bailout’ rules would be an important part of these new fiscal rules.” https://tinyurl.com/ydeov2fs
 
Also at RealClearPolicy, the Manhattan Institute’s Mark Mills argues the "arrival of the digital oilfield" will disrupt the electric car industry far more than Tesla and its competitors. https://tinyurl.com/y75qfskq
 
HEALTH CARE TIPS: At RealClearHealth, the Consumer Technology Association’s Gary Shapiro offers 10 bipartisan ideas for affordable, quality health care. https://tinyurl.com/ybnbbhwm
 
ALTERNATIVE HISTORY: RealClearScience editor Ross Pomeroy offers a what-if – what if the Nazis had developed a nuclear bomb? http://bit.ly/2wopiNB
 
TECH AT WAR: At RealClearLife, Matthew Reitman examines the role tech companies are playing in the digital war against ISIS. http://bit.ly/2vyqRuZ
 
EARLY NFL: RealClearSports editor Cory Gunkel offers 10 reasons to watch NFL preseason games. https://tinyurl.com/y82rea2x