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08/09/2017 07:50 AM EDT


By Heather Caygle (hcaygle@politico.com or @heatherscope)

With an assist from Daniel Lippman

TRUMP'S 'FIRE AND FURY' RATTLES LAWMAKERS - Lawmakers in both parties reacted with alarm to President Trump's vow that North Korea would face "fire and fury" if the country doesn't stop threatening the U.S. "I take exception to the president's comments because you've got to be sure that you can do what you say you're going to do," Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) told Phoenix radio station KTAR. "The great leaders I've seen don't threaten unless they're ready to act and I'm not sure President Trump is ready to act."

Democrats went further, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) calling Trump's comments "reckless" and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) saying the president's reaction is "unhinged." Trump's remarks followed a Washington Post report Tuesday that North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead. CNN's Jeremy Herb rounds up the reaction on the Hill: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f18ceede50f1dfceca538a0844f5a991f81df33d71b7ee5a59e154dfdeb33bcef61f5fa895fc7831368ccaa5e2ec83b340dac06f635b5b8

But, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close friend of McCain, was much more supportive of Trump's response: "President Trump has basically drawn a red line... He's not going to contain the threat, he's going to stop the threat," Graham said on CBS this morning. "He's going to pick homeland defense over regional stability and he has to. ...We've failed for 30 years, it's time to try something new."

Side note: As Seung Min points out, the White House has yet to nominate an ambassador to South Korea.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vented about Trump's "excessive expectations" earlier this week in Kentucky, ABC News reports. "Part of the reason I think that the storyline is that we haven't done much is because, in part, the president and others have set these early timelines about things need to be done by a certain point," McConnell told the Rotary Club. "I think he had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process," he added. McConnell's comments prompted sharp criticism from Trump ally Sean Hannity: "No Senator, YOU are a WEAK, SPINELESS leader who does not keep his word and you need to Retire!" Hannity tweeted.

Huddle note: Republicans left for recess without achieving any of the major legislative accomplishments GOP leaders had promised in January to finish by now. Trump isn't the only one setting deadlines.

TRUMP'S STRANGE ENDORSEMENT- Trump surprised many Republicans Tuesday night, tweeting his support for Sen. Luther Strange out of the blue ahead of next week's crowded Alabama Senate primary. Trump's "complete and total endorsement" of Strange will be a relief to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his allies, who pushed the White House for months to back Strange in the race. Trump's support is also a huge blow to Strange's competitors, including Rep. Mo Brooks, in a race that has been centered on who is closest to the president. Daniel Strauss: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f18ceede50f1dfc4cc6ed31eb66b6803e15281e3fa387acf9947af8d146672f11a113ea2aa2bffb0b5967f31f09cb25c717fcf056394e52

WE'RE HERE, IT'S WEDNESDAY. Welcome to August 9 and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Sen. Richard Blumenthal saying he won't be bullied by President Trump, written by Roll Call's Niels Lesniewski, was the winner.

ROKITA ANNOUNCES SENATE RUN - Rep. Todd Rokita made it official this morning, announcing in a campaign launch video he's challenging Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly next year. Donnelly, coming from a state Trump won by 20 points in 2016, is considered to be one of Democrats' most vulnerable senators up for reelection. But first, Rokita and fellow Republican Rep. Todd Messer are expected to face off in a messy primary battle for the GOP nomination. The pair already has clashed "over everything from Messer's wife's high-paid job in an Indianapolis suburb, to Rokita's use of a prop plane for campaign purposes, to edits to Messer's Wikipedia page," Kevin Robillard reports for Pros. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f18ceede50f1dfc7cd433355511c01cfc73d5f731578921a9af14c153d9652f6cb529b35db7194a61dd2a49bc3ef315e215f3ac156873f0

MUELLER FIRING NOT 'ON THE TABLE' - Trump has no plans to fire special counsel Robert Mueller and never has, at least according to John Dowd, the president's lawyer. Trump's chief counsel told USA Today the president he has even relayed "private messages of appreciation" to Mueller through his lawyer. Remember, lawmakers have been so alarmed in recent weeks about Trump's public criticism of the probe that senators introduced two separate bipartisan bills to protect the special counsel if the president tried to fire him. But Dowd says that has "never been on the table, never." David Jackson and Kevin Johnson: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f18ceede50f1dfc7f9c6d00f83f0a2917ee8d5ffe1ef10020f2b39853cec6cc393cec7ec01abb2e430cb12fdc8443e175145ef4007d2480

THE NEXT BIG BATTLE: DEBT CEILING DEMANDS - Don't expect House conservatives to quietly accept a GOP leadership deal with Democrats to raise the debt limit come September. Republican leaders have privately acknowledged they'll likely have to pass a clean bill with Democratic votes before the end of the month. But GOP hardliners, who want spending cuts or some other concessions, are already warning this may become a litmus test for Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). "It would be extremely difficult for a Republican speaker to put forward a clean debt ceiling and look his conference in the face and believe he's done a job well done," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told HuffPost.
Matt Fuller with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f18ceede50f1dfcbb18ccbd899375692aee9fd9d789ed97e3a16372fa0a454f6e66311fb49922ed27989fd5422e45b2bd1088420c2487e3

LESS MONEY, MO' PROBLEMS - Senate Republicans' campaign arm has lost about $2 million in promised donations due to GOP's failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, CNN's Manu Raju reports. "The shortfall, officials said, also points to a larger concern within the party that their core voters may be disillusioned heading into the 2018 midterms when Democrats have a serious shot of retaking the House." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f18ceede50f1dfcb82840f9b6ddbe84c6780292aa516847a0880d4cfb0200ea263f89dbeb62c83c9abf51519534672c76bb6b61a1588704

DEJA DANNY - Danny Tarkanian, the son of a legendary Nevada college basketball coach who has run for office several times, will challenge Sen. Dean Heller in Nevada's Republican primary next year, Kevin reports. Heller's campaign quickly fired back with a statement after the announcement blasting Tarkanian as "a perennial candidate." As Roll Call's Niels Lesniewski points out, Tarkanian made the announcement on Fox and Friends at 4 a.m. Las Vegas time. That would be an odd time for news aimed at Nevadans until you consider Fox and Friends' regular viewer: President Trump.

ARRIALS AND DEPARTURES - Gretchen Andersen has started as press secretary for Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). She previously worked for Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). Sorelle Wyckoff starts a PhD program in political science at the University of Maryland next week, leaving her gig as deputy press secretary for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Ashley Lewis has joined the Senate Banking Committee as press secretary. She worked most recently as director of media relations for the Ex-Im Bank.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House and Senate are out until September.

AROUND THE HILL - It's all quiet on the Capitol front. Enjoy it while you can.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Jon Deuser was first to guess that President Gerald Ford was the last president to testify before Congress. Ford voluntarily testified about his decision to pardon Richard Nixon.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Brad Fitch with today's question: Sen. John McCain's July vote on health care was not the first time that an ailing senator came to cast a tie-breaker on a key vote. This senator, so ill he could not speak, was wheeled into the chamber and pointed to his eye to indicate his "Aye" vote. Name the person and the major piece of legislation he supported. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send answers my way: hcaygle@politico.com

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