Leland Vittert’s War Notes: Foolishly Predicting the Winner

NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.  

Oh lord: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on ABC’s “The View” today continued to dig the Democrats’ political grave.

• Among his quotes, Schumer said, “Their attitude is, ‘I made my money all by myself. How dare your government take my money from me?’”
  • Watch more here.
    • Remember the “Kamala is for they/them” ad – this could be Republicans’ midterm ad. 
  • To be fair: This is necessary – an addict must reach rock bottom before rehab can work. 
• Democrats must find the emotional center of the country.
  • Reagan, Clinton, Obama and Trump all found it.
    • New data from Vox shows that if every registered voter went to the polls in 2024, Trump would have won by 5 points.
  • Until a leader like that emerges on the Left, Democrats will continue to say profoundly stupid things.
• Road map: California Gov. Gavin Newsom had Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on his podcast and said a lot of Trump ally and MAGA firebrand Steve Bannon’s talking points:
  • “Reminds me a lot of what Bernie Sanders was saying, reminds me a lot of what Democrats said 20, 30 years ago,” Newsom said.
    • WELCOME to the party, Gavin – “War Notes” told you that weeks ago by comparing Trump and Bill Clinton on half a dozen issues. 
  • Bonus: Walz about Trump voters: “I think I can kick most of their asses.”
    • To think this guy could have been the vice president.

JFK files: I am too young to really understand all the JFK conspiracy theories – to me, Oswald did it without help from the CIA or the mob. 

• Maybe I am wrong – hopefully, whatever we get today finally gives us the answers. 

Apollo 13: The SpaceX rescue of two astronauts stranded by NASA/Boeing should become another Ron Howard film – except he won’t make it because Trump and Musk would be the heroes. 

• Look back: Barack Obama actually set the stage for today.
  • Watch Obama and Elon Musk touring SpaceX back in 2010.
    • Who knew: Elon once wore ties. 
• We’ve come a long way since “The Right Stuff,” and I am not sure that’s a good thing. 

The Long Game

Prediction: At 9:00 p.m. tonight, you will get vastly different views of the call between Trump and Putin.

• MSNBC will tell you Trump caved to Putin in his call today because of the pee tapes – see, I bet you forgot about the pee tapes conspiracy theory.
• CNN will talk about how Trump likes dictators and will abandon the “liberal” rules-based free world – whatever that means anymore. 
• Fox will tell you that Putin’s agreement to stop targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure earns him a spot in American history, perhaps second only to Washington and Lincoln. 

Truth: Today’s phone call is just one hand in the poker tournament, one play in a Super Bowl, one at-bat in MLB – pick your analogy. 

• Yes, any one hand/play/at-bat can change a game or a season, but there is nothing to suggest this call is that. 

What I am thinking: Based on what we know about the call, it went as expected. 

• The KGB-trained manipulator vs. the bare-knuckle New York developer who outfoxed the mob.
• Both men need public wins.
• Both men need a deal where they can credibly say they won.
  • The real negotiation will happen in private. 
• Since 2017, we’ve learned to wait and see what happens with Trump – it’s a process – let’s wait and see. 

Coincidence: Living in the Middle East teaches you there are no coincidences

• Israel restarting the war in Gaza.
  • The media loves to cry over the bodies of Hamas fighters. 
  • Massive American strikes on the Houthis in Yemen.
    • The media loves videos of American jets taking off from aircraft carriers at night.
• Plus, challenging Iran and the Houthis.
  • Not a bad head fake.

Wise words: Let the process play out – then we will know who won the game. 

• Anybody predicting the winner at this point sounds foolish.

Activist Judges

Breaking: A federal district court judge just ordered USAID to be restarted, saying that shutting it down violates the Constitution.

• Honest question: If the president can’t stop foreign aid programs he views as contrary to the best interests of the United States, what exactly is the president’s job? 

Danger: Republicans love a president running roughshod over federal judges these days, but they are forgetting the No. 1 rule in Washington:

• Things change. 

Maybe judges really are just an extension of politics these days. 

• Much like how Carl von Clausewitz said, “War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means.”
• Liberals now lionize Chief Justice John Roberts for rebuking Trump on impeaching judges.
  • Look back: These were the same people who called Roberts and the other conservative justices zealots for overturning Roe v. Wade. 
  • Then This: AOC saying Biden should just ignore judges — he did on forgiving student loans.

A few things can be true at once:

• Cherry-picked district judges usurping the power of the president nationwide seems like a vast abuse of the separation of powers.
• Simply ignoring court orders that the administration doesn’t like sets a horrible precedent – even if the administration is legally right. 
• It’s certainly possible judges don’t have jurisdiction over certain presidential powers.
  • I.e., a district judge ordering an aircraft carrier to return to port. 

Watch tonight: Tom Dupree on the legal side and Mark McKinnon on the politics. 

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.