President Donald Trump says NATO allies are in debt to the U.S. over defense spending. He’ll be overseas all week. At home, the calls for gun regulations after the Florida school shooting in February are coming to Utah, and the owners of an online gun marketplace wants its supporters to be there.
Happy Wednesday.
Allies of the United States in Europe are “delinquent,” Trump said at the opening of his weeklong tour in the region on Wednesday. He called Germany “captive” to Russia because of its use of Russian natural gas. The president continues to confront allies at the NATO summit in Brussels. He will head to Britain before meeting one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland. [NYTimes]
Topping the news: The Utah Gun Exchange is on a tour around the country following survivors of the Parkland, Fla. shooting in an attempt to combat the students’ push for new gun restrictions. [Trib]
-> The Salt Lake County Council approved Mayor Ben McAdams’ nominees to lead the scandal-tainted Utah Transit Authority’s governance board, but some still expressed concerns over the mayor’s two choices. [Trib]
-> Utah elections officials say they’re seeing a record number of attempts to hack into the state’s systems, an influx they say might be a result of Mitt Romney’s name on the ballot as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. [DNews]
Tweets of the day: From @MEPFuller: “As an undefeated youth basketball coach, Brett Kavanaugh is uniquely qualified to teach young women the value of crisp bounce passes and the importance of zone defense. It is for these reasons that I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice.”
-> From @JamColley: "congratulations to elon musk for constructing the world’s smallest violin to play for himself.”
-> From @iamchrisscott: "Generally speaking, I would love to know less about Elon Musk”
Happy Birthday: To Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox and state Rep. Kim Coleman.
In other news: Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch spoke out against the new political norm of immediately supporting or opposing a president’s Supreme Court nominee along partisan lines. [Trib]
-> David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky, Jaclyn Corin and other Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students will stop in South Jordan on Saturday to host a town hall put on by March For Our Lives SLC. [Trib]
-> Salt Lake County’s final primary election votes were released Tuesday. Democratic Salt Lake City Councilman Derek Kitchen won his primary race to replace Sen. Jim Dabakis representing Senate District 2. Jennifer Dailey-Provost won the primary race to replace Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck in the House by 55 votes. [Trib]
-> The LDS Foundation donated $25,000 to the LGBTQ support group Affirmation to pay for suicide prevention training, something the group calls “a good steppingstone” for relations with the LDS Church. [Trib] [Fox13] [DailyHerald]
-> Police are looking for the owner of a loaded handgun that was found in the bathroom near a children’s play area at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium – to return the gun. [Trib] [Fox13] [ABC4] [KSL]
-> William Keebler, a Utah militia group leader ho spent two years in jail after pleading guilty to attempting to destroy federal property, is being released. [APviaTrib] [Fox13]
-> Pat Bagley illustrates the differences in protest styles of the Parkland shooting survivors versus the Utah Gun Exchange. [Trib]
Nationally: Senate Democrats launched a broad attack on Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, by painting him as a justice that will roll back abortion rights, undo health care protections and protect Trump against indictment. [NYTimes]
-> Meanwhile, the White House and various conservative groups are moving to depict Kavanaugh as a family man and friend to women. [Politico]
-> President Donald Trump added $200 billion in Chinese products that he will hit with import tariffs, escalating his trade war with the Asian country. [WaPost]
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-- Connor Richards and Taylor W. Anderson
