Power Up: Trump praises attack on a reporter while some allies smear Khashoggi

• “Enemy of the people”: Trump praised Republican congressman Gianforte's assault on Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs before Gianforte was elected last spring. “Any guy that can do a body slam, he's my kind of — he's my guy,” Trump said. Gianforte was sentenced to anger management and community service.
• Smear campaign: The Post's Bob Costa and Karoun  Demirjian report on a cadre of pro-Trump House Republicans who have been “privately exchanging articles from right-wing outlets that fuel suspicion of Khashoggi, highlighting his association with the Muslim Brotherhood in his youth and raising conspiratorial questions about his worth decades ago as an embedded reporter covering Osama bin Laden, according to four GOP officials involved in the discussions who were not authorized to speak publicly.” 
• Off or on message?: Per a late night pool report, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters en route to Mexico that contrary to an ABC News report, he has “heard no tape” and “seen no transcript” of Khashoggi's death. " . . . we should be factual when we report things about this, this is a very serious matter that we're working diligently on, and so to put out headlines that are factually false does no one any good.”

The Guardian responded to Trump's Gianforte praise:

WELCOME TO WHITE HOUSE REPORTER JOSH DAWSEY'S INAUGURAL 'DAWSEY DEBRIEF': Dawsey gives Power Up his inside take on what's happening behind the scenes in Trump's White House. It's all about immigration, he says.

• “Amid the outrage over the killing of journalist Khashoggi, the White House’s pitched debate on immigration has gotten somewhat lost in the maelstrom. A record number of families came over the Mexican border last month . . . A large caravan of immigrants is headed toward the U.S. border . . . And Trump is rage-tweeting at the government’s lack of progress while convening tense meetings behind the scenes. One senior administration official said it is the 'main policy debate' going on inside 1600 Pennsylvania.
• “The blame game has begun: Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton had a profane screaming match outside the Oval Office Thursday, according to three White House officials, after speaking with a frustrated Trump. Trump has a chilly relationship with DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who he dismisses as a “Bushie" . . . And he is grown apoplectic watching large caravans of immigrants head toward the border.
• “So what’s next?: The White House is spoiling for a shutdown fight over the [border] wall in December. Trump continues to tell advisers that something has to be done at the border, and a boiling debate continues in his administration about reinstituting a child separation policy.
• “There are few options: Short of reinstating the separations, advisers say the [immigration] numbers are likely to plateau or maybe even rise. The appetite for Capitol Hill Republicans to have a fight over the wall has not been strong, and tough midterm elections could further dampen it. And Trump’s anger is unlikely to abate unless the numbers do.”

Global Power

KHASHOGGI UPDATE: Trump finally conceded yesterday that it appears Khashoggi is dead and warned of “very severe” punishment against Saudi Arabia depending on the outcome of the investigation into his disappearance. Read The Post's Erin Cunningham and John Wagner on Trump's most recent statements regarding Khashoggi. 

NEED TO KNOW: The Post's David Ignatius asks us what U.S. spy agencies knew about Khashoggi — and when. 

• Investigate, Congress: . . . the Senate and House intelligence committees should begin an urgent oversight investigation of what U.S. spy agencies knew about threats against Khashoggi — and also into their broader reporting and analysis on Saudi Arabia and its headstrong crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.”
• Key questions: Ignatius suggests that Congress privately  “should review every Saudi-related item included in the President’s Daily Brief since President Trump took office. If the daily briefing missed important developments, why? Did the CIA prepare a psychological profile of MBS? What did it say? Did the intelligence community augment its collection as reports emerged about Khashoggi’s death? Did the White House or the National Security Council make any special tasking requests? Did Trump or his aides ignore or dismiss any vital intelligence?”

HAS THE WHITE HOUSE OVERSTATED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SAUDI RELATIONSHIP?: Some D.C. insiders think so. Former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan, who served under President George W. Bush, told Power Up that while the kingdom has succeeded in countering Iranian influence in the region, the Saudis have not been as effective in all the ways they'd like you to believe. 

• Syria and Yemen: “They have not been effective in countering influence in Syria . . . [and] they are losing the war in Yemen, which Iran has invested very little in but gotten a lot in return,” Jordan said. 
• Israel and the Palestinians: The former ambassador said the Saudi support for peace between Israel and the Palestinians was sidetracked after the U.S. Embassy was moved to Jerusalem, “which infuriated King Salman.” 
• Qatar, Lebanon and Turkey “If you look at every single the kingdom has done . . . he [Mohammed Bin Salman] is splintering the Arab world — between the blockage in Qatar . . . the botched kidnapping of Lebanon's prime minister.. . and now with Turkey," a former administration official told Power Up. 
• Advice for POTUS: “Hold firm, recognize that Saudis are not the senior partners in this relationship and that they need us more than we need them and use the leverage that he [Trump] has,” Jordan said. 

On The Hill

IF THE PRESIDENT FAILS TO HOLD THE KINGDOM ACCOUNTABLE . . .: Congress, including GOP lawmakers, could act to check Trump and ensure the Saudis face consequences if they're linked conclusively to Khashoggi's death. Here are some things lawmakers could do: 

1. Global Magnitsky act: Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Robert J. Menendez (D-N.J.) invoked this law in a letter last week to Trump, triggering a four-month deadline for the administration to investigate Khashoggi’s death and requiring sanctions if it finds an extrajudicial killing or torture. Under the law, sanctions could be levied against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directly.
2. Congress must approve any arms deals: After his visit to Riyadh last year, Trump announced billions in arms deals with the kingdom. However, this past June, Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced his refusal to consent to the sale, which could ultimately be blocked by Congress if Trump ignores the objection. 
3. Congress can slip language into a must-pass bill: Lawmakers could force Trump's hand by attaching sanctions language or a measure to prohibit military assistance to Yemen to a must-pass government funding bill.
4. War powers: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reintroduced a joint resolution relying on the 1973 War Powers Resolution to force Trump to stop helping the Saudi-sponsored offensive in Yemen. That would halt the U.S. flow of munitions, intelligence reconnaissance, spare parts and replacement equipment to the Saudi effort there. 
5. Oversight: A handful of committees could launch an investigation into the Trump administration's response to the Khashoggi disappearance and communications about it between the administration and the Saudis, especially if Democrats make gains in the midterm elections.

COUNTERPROGRAMMING: When Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) vowed to “sanction the hell out of Saudi Arabia” over Khashoggi’s killing, it was at least the second time the senator had invoked the inferno when referring to international penalties.

• The first time Graham promised a sanctions “bill from hell” in response to Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections. That bill, spearheaded by Graham and Menendez, could provide a road map for lawmakers looking to punish Saudi Arabia if the White House punts. The measure would impose sanctions on transactions related to Russian energy projects and real estate deals and would prohibit U.S. individuals and businesses from participating in Russian oil projects. Senate leadership, however, has put off considering the bill until post-midterms.

MIDTERMS: The Republican National Committee announced that Graham would be stumping for Republicans in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee (we first reported that the senator would be hitting the campaign trail in our inaugural edition).

• “W” going for the W: George W. Bush has been quietly campaigning for GOP candidates, The Post’s Paul Kane reports.
• The key quote: “At a time when Trump rules the Republican Party, practically choosing winners and losers through his endorsements in the primaries, Bush is in high demand on the campaign trail,” Kane writes.
• One beneficiary: Indiana Senate nominee Mike Braun, in a dead heat with Sen. Joe Donnelly (D), got the Bush treatment last Monday. 
• Re Trump: Braun stopped by The Post this week to chat with Power Up about running as an outsider businessman. He said while Trump might not be as popular in Indiana as he was in 2016, voters are still “tickled pink that someone is still willing the shake the system.”
• Hoosier style: Braun conceded he's a “results oriented guy,” but that his campaign style is “a little more muted” than Trump. So we shouldn’t expect any name-calling tweets at adult-film actresses? “No,” Braun quickly replied.
• If not for Kavanaugh, Braun says there might have been “a little more mystery" going into the final stretch.  
• On health care: He also said he would not support a health-care plan that weakened coverage of preexisting conditions. But he does want to repeal Obamacare . . . 

In the Media

WHAT THE WORLD IS READING: Here's how newspapers in the Middle East — both pro-government and independent outlets — are covering Khashoggi's disappearance. 

• In Saudi Arabia: Arab News, a pro-government paper owned by a full brother of MBS, emphasized the U.S.-Saudi Arabia relationship on Thursday with a three-column, triple-decker headline that reads "Trump condemns 'rush to judgment' in Khashoggi case" under a banner claiming "TOGETHER FOR PEACE."
• In Turkey: Daily Sabah, which Foreign Policy said was part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "Army of Spin" and used to be owned by the Erdogan's son-in-law, featured  two columns that with sharp words for Saudi Arabia. In one, which also quoted Trump in its headline, the author wrote that it was "A 'rogue state' behind Khashoggi's disappearance, not 'rogue killers.'" 
• In Iran: Iran Daily, which the Iranian government owns and controls, ran a story about Khashoggi on its front page Thursday, writing that "The controversy has blown a massive hole in attempts by Saudi Prince Mohammed to promote himself as a modern reformer."
• In Israel: Haaretz, a newspaper David Remnick once called "the most important liberal institution" in Israel, featured a column that localized the Khashoggi case, explaining "why the Khashoggi murder is a disaster for Israel" and writing that Jerusalem and D.C. are "mourning their whole strategic concept for the Mideast — not least, for countering Iran."
• In Qatar and beyond: Al Jazeera, an outlet that has expanded far beyond its Doha headquarters, ran a story that asked "Is Saudi-Turkish investigation a mere formality?"

The People

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE: Arthur Brooks, the outgoing CEO of the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, thinks he has a cure for our chronically divided and divisive politics. “We need nothing less than a revolution of loving each other,” Brooks told Power Up on Thursday. The social scientist, musician and contributing opinion writer for the New York Times gave us the first look at his upcoming documentary, The Pursuit (watch it above), and told us about his quixotic quest for “true and lasting happiness for all.”

• Brooks set out to make a movie “about how we can lift people up — poverty is the thing I care about most, and looking at the ways we can alleviate poverty.” He said we need to start at the margins, with the people who are the poorest, who have the most despair. 
• Thanks to the Great Recession and the tech economy, Brooks said, many people now feel superfluous. His answer to that: “What  I really see in this film is that if you really want to lift people up, you don't need to help them. You need to need them.” 
• Some advice for America's political leaders: “Unite people around the idea of common identity, not divided identity,” he said. The country needs “Americans who mutually lift each other up.”
• Brooks has a podcast, a book and a Harvard teaching gig on top of his new movie — all that's missing is a 2020 presidential bid announcement.
• Not so fast, Brooks said. “I don't have any plans to become a politician. I'm not a politician . . . Politics is like the weather, ideas are like the climate. I'm a climate scientist, not a weatherman.”