What steve bannon calls the Opposition PartyPresident Trump will be the first president in 36 years to skip it. Hes holding what sounds like a reelection rally in president. The president of the Correspondents Association just interviewed the commander in chief in the oval office who told him he misses his old life. Jeff mason is here. Selena zito of the Washington Examiner also interviewed the president she writes me found him, quote, humble. This week he tried to make good on the promise of the biggest tax cut in history, but what would his onepage memo do to the deficit . And north korea causing more trouble on day 99, firing another Ballistic Missile. I will ask senator chris coons how we should respond. But first today it feels like the end of a semester. Everybody it seems has a grade for President Trumps first 100 days and how he fairs, well, that depends upon the proctor. According to a recent cnn orc poll his Approval Rating is a modern low at 44 , but a Washington Post abc news survey shows that 96 of those who voted for him theyd do it again. And 85 of secretary clintons voters theyd vote for her again. So it does seem like theres too much subjectivity afoot. My question is what can we learn about whats to come in the next three and three quarter years based on what weve seen thus far . At the beginning it seemed hed govern by play kagt some of the rigid interests that he had cultivated to win the nomination, he surrounded himself with some very conservative influences, Jeff Sessions at just iks, rick piry at energy, scott pruitt at epa, betsy devos at education, ben carson at hud and steve bannon ever present at his elbow. And make no mistake the impact they have on regulations, climate, the environment will be very long lasting. Trump also delivered on his pledge to appoint a conservative Supreme Court justice from a list of 21 that was dran up by the Federalist Society during the campaign, but then his travel ban was stymied by the courts, his attempt at repeal and replacement of obamacare it failed despite the control of both houses, because the Freedom Caucus balked. No funding has been earmarked for the border wall and tax reform thus far consists of just one page with 200 words containing only seven figures. As the president s accomplishments wane and his Approval Rating tumbled his positions have softened. In fact, the only constant thus far has been inconsistency. On just one day two weeks ago President Trump reversed course on five different significant issues, nato, the export import bank, Federal Reserve chairwoman janet yellen, Interest Rates and no longer defining china as a currency manipulator. Now you can add nafta and syria, even golfing to that list. Its confirmation that we have elected a president lacking an ideological core, not a bad thing, which should come as no surprise when considering he is a former democrat who donated to senator Hillary Clinton and whose personal life sometimes seems at odds with the values espoused by his evangelical supporters. Mostly the man who wrote the art of the deal he wants to win. The sunday after he was elected my column in the Philadelphia Inquirer had this headline, did nation just elect a compromiser in chief . And in it i wrote his awkward reference to the new testament during a Campaign Appearance at Liberty University evidenced a lack of devotion to beliefs that certain of his supporters hold dear. Some saw a shallow attempt to ingratiate id like to think i heard words from a man who wasnt a true believer but is a dealmaker a pragmatist who knows how to sell and close a deal and maybe what well get in the white house is a compromiser in chief. One can hope. When you put aside all the bombast, the tweets, the impulsivity, the fixation on election results, the constant ranker, the war with the media which isnt easy to put all that aside but maybe thats what the future holds, more deal making. Im inclined to agree with a column in the wall street journal this week that the president s single greatest asset is that he, quote, isnt the product of the Traditional Party system but rather that rarest of things in washington, a genuine free agent looking forward they wrote the more important question is whether its too late to adopt a different approach. The answer, of course not. After fewer than 100 days have passed. As noted, the president and his team already are pivoting toward a more centrist approach on some fronts. Well, i think he was right and given that thats where most of the country is it would be a step in the right direction were it to continue. Now, to mark the 100th day of his presidency tonight donald trump is holding a campaignish rally here in pennsylvania instead of attending the white house Correspondents Association annual fundraising dinner in washington. Its the first time a president wont be there since 1981 which was only president because reagan was in the hospital at that time recovering from his gunshot wound. Joining me now jeff mason he is not only the current president of the white house Correspondents Association he is the Reuters White House correspondent. He and his colleagues just interviewed the president as did the Washington Examiners selena zeto, shes also Just Launched a program on sirius xm radio, thats a good thing, its called main street meets the belt way. Jeff, you created so much news with that interview given the Ballistic Missile firing in north korea last night i want to begin with this, its a piece of audio, something that the president said to you, i want to roll tape and then i want to know from you what was his body language. Play the tape. Well, theres a theres a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with north korea. Absolutely. What did you make of that, jeff . Well, his body language, michael, was very simple really. He was sitting behind his desk in the oval office and he was very serious, very straightforward and i think he meant every word that he said. So it was it was the context of a broader discussion about north korea and about china and though he said that he was interested in pursuing diplomacy and thats certainly the message that the administration gave this week, it is clear that this administration is seriously considering military options if necessary and that was sort of the crux of what he said there. Jeff, i have noted that hes not treating kim jongun the way that he is treating a political opponent at home. That impulsivity seems gone and thats probably a good thing in dealing although he did tweet last night and lean on the china relationship a little bit. Speak to that issue, the way in which the president treats kim jongun. Hes very careful when speaking about kim jongun. Thats not necessarily a characteristic that applies to all of the things that he says. Sometimes he is a little bit more impulsive. I think youre right to say he has been careful about kim jongun. In fact, he braced him a little bit in our interview saying that is correct look, its not easy for a 27yearold to take over a regime from his father, referring there to the current leader. So that was kind of a surprising thing to say, too, in the context of discussing a possible military conflict with north korea, but it does suggest that hes trying to be careful. We also asked him very specifically do you think this man is rational . Is he a rational actor . And President Trump said he didnt know. He had no opinion on that. So he could have said, no, this guy isnt rational at all but that was not the choice he made. One more question for you and then i will turn to selena. This response that he gave on the subject of his old life fascinates me because ive been wondering for 100 days is he having a good time . Is he in over his head . Does he enjoy it. Is it what it expected. Play that sound and then you can walk us through it. I loved my previous life. I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. I actually, this is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier. I thought it was more of a im a detailsoriented person, i think you would say that, but i do miss my old life. This i like to work so thats not a problem, but this is actually more work. Im floored that he thought it was going to be easier. Jeff, you the one who elicited the response. Reply. This is more work. It was a really interesting response and he was talking in context of what he missed about his old life. We asked him that. And he talked about missing driving, he talked about being surprised at how little privacy he had even though he made a note of saying i was famous for a long time and didnt have that much privacy before either but there is even less now. That clip that you just played in which he articulated the fact that he was surprised this ended up being more work than his previous life and that was surprising to us as well to hear him say that. Selena, you also scored an Oval Office Interview for the examiner this week. For both you as well as the reuters reporter the president was talking about Electoral College maps. If im not mistaken your interview, selena, came first. Give me the context of the maps. The picture im going to show is actually the three sets that were put out for the reuters reporters. Go ahead. Well, the reuters reporters were right behind us. My interview went first. And in context i had gone in there and asked him about that and thats part those questions are for my book. I was talking to him about counties and so he brought the map out and started talking, you know he and i went back and forth about the counties that he won and ones that he flipped from obama to trump. So we were having that discussion. So, in other words, the data was at his fingertips already for your conversation. So now when jeff shows up with his colleagues the president has got it top of mind because the way in which i saw this get repeated down the lane was as if the president reached in his top drawer and said to the reuters gang, hey, let me show you these maps ive got. Its interesting to me to hear selena say that that was something that you were specifically talking about in your interview as well. Yeah. That explains a little bit more of why he had them on his desk. Yeah. But i will say in context during our interview we were in the middle of discussion about president xi of china and President Trump you interrupted himself in that conversation and handed out those maps. And thats vintage trump, right . Thats what he does. He bounces all over the place. We also had sort of the same discussion about north korea and about, you know, how his life has changed. Hey, gang, ive got to get in a question about tonight. Selena, tonight i envision there will be a split screen on this and other stations where he will be in harrisburg, pennsylvania, and the, quote unquote, Opposition Party is going to be at the white house Correspondents Association dinner. Why is he coming to hair burring . For him this is a great way for him to celebrate his 100 days. Even though he says 100 days should not be, you know, a big deal and then he says it isnt. Its a great place for him to feedback off of the people that voted for him. He enjoys that. He mentioned that during our interview, that he likes going out there, he likes talking to people and he typically doesnt just do a rally. In my experiences covering him he will meet with people in the back or he will meet at some place beforehand and talk to people and then gets out there and gets to talk about his accomplishments in his own words without the filter of us and he enjoys that. I wish you both a good night tonight. Selena, are you wearing the boots to the White House CorrespondentAssociation Dinner that you wore to the oval office . Inquiring minds want to know. Put that picture up. I have them on now and i will have them on tonight under my gown and i have had them on since every president that ive interviewed since h. W. Bush. I dont know. Jeff mason may impose a dress code. I dont know if theyre going to be cool with jeff. Hey, guys, thank you. I wish you both a good night tonight. Thank you. What are your thoughts . Tweet me smerconish or go to my facebook page. Hit me with something, catherine. Tweet, do you have anything positive to say about potus . Anything positive at all without being sarcastic . Lee, did you just listen to my commentary. I am getting hammered already in social media for being too complimentary to the president because in the five minute commentary i just delivered im giving the man credit for changing positions not being rigid and not being an i had log. I think that is total fairness. At the same time im noting his impulsivity, his war with the media, the tweet craze and all the other stuff so its all there. Still to come on the 99th day of the president s first 100 north korea launched another Ballistic Missile. One day after secretary of state Rex Tillerson told npr that the u. S. Was open to direct negotiations with that rogue nation. Senator chris coons is in the on deck circle he sits on the Foreign Relations committee. And President Trump has had 100 days to get that top priority of border wall with mexico funded and started. How is that going . Not too well i guess if Rush Limbaugh is no longer in your corner. It looks like President Trump is caving on his demand for a measly 1 billion in the budget for his wall on the border with mexico. Hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec® its starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. 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To avoid longterm injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Ask your doctor about cialis. The north korea narrative has shifted dramatically in the last couple days. On wednesday most of the u. S. Senate traveled to the white house for a classified briefing. On thursday secretary of state Rex Tillerson told npr the u. S. Was open to direct negotiations with the rogue nation. That was a reversal of the no negotiations position that he had taken just a month prior. On friday President Trump requested that south korea pay for the fad Missile Defense system which the u. S. Is installing there and later kim jongun conducted another Ballistic Missile test. That caused President Trump to send this tweet north korea disrespected the wishes of the china and its highly respected president when it launched though unsuccessfully a missile today. Bad. Joining me now to discuss this and more one of the senators at the offense White House Briefing chris coons who is a member of the Foreign Relations committee. I want to put that tweet back on the screen. Read the tea leaves. What do you think the president is trying to do here when calling out north korea for having i will say embarrassed china with that launch . Well, i think, michael, what President Trump is doing here is recognizing that his only constructive path forward on north korea is to engage china. To make sure that china sees this as being as much their problem as our problem. So his tweet is complimenting president xi of china and trying to up the ante by attacking the leader of north korea. This is reality and dangerous reality. Way to conduct diplomacy is not through twitter but by leadership by the National Security team at the Trump Administration. I came away from the briefing at the white house encouraged that virtually every senator came and that we got a thorough briefing on the challenges that we face and that the path theyre choosing is diplomacy first rather than military action. I do think we face some significant challenges and this is