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Our Louis XIV. Photo-Illustration: Daily Intelligencer; Photos: Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV, Louvre Museum; Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images (Trump)

In his bizarre New York Times interview, Donald Trump expresses his characteristic assortment of fever-dream assertions. The president believes Hillary Clinton was totally opposed to any sanctions for Russia, that a properly amortized health-insurance plan would cost $12 a year, that Napoleons one problem is he didnt go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and that Trump has somehow either carried out or reversed sweeping land reforms (Ive given the farmers back their farms. Ive given the builders back their land to build houses and to build other things). Yet a consistent idea manages to poke through the delirious rambling. Trump repeatedly affirmed his conviction that the entire federal government ought to be operated for his personal benefit.

Trump expressed this idea by returning several times to the phrase conflict of interest. Trump himself is of course the most personally conflicted president in modern American history. He has maintained a vast, undisclosed business empire and openly used his powers in office to enrich himself. But he does not mention this conflict of interest. Instead he applies the phrase to any law-enforcement official who might potentially get in his way.

The headline of the story was Trumps anger that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from an investigation into the Trump campaigns connections to Russia. The cause of the recusal flows self-evidently from basic legal principles. Sessions played a key role in the Trump campaign, so obviously he cant conduct an investigation into it. In Trumps mind, though, it is obvious that managing the investigation into the Trump campaign is the very thing his handpicked Attorney General ought to do:

Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself. I then have which, frankly, I think is very unfair to the president. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, Thanks, Jeff, but I cant, you know, Im not going to take you.

It is not as if the job of overseeing the Russia investigation is not being done. What Trump objects to is the fact that he was deprived of the chance to choose the official who is overseeing it.

Trump goes on to explain or, to put it more accurately, gesture at his belief that everybody else in government is fatally conflicted. Robert Mueller is conflicted because he interviewed to be the head of the FBI to replace James Comey. The acting FBI director is conflicted because his wife ran for state Senate as a Democrat. Muellers staff is conflicted. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is conflicted because hes from Baltimore There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any. (Rosenstein is not from Baltimore, and was appointed as a U.S. Attorney by George W. Bush.) In contrast to Trumps notion that he is surrounded by officials fatally conflicted by loyalties to causes other than Donald Trump is his belief that he possesses the legitimate authority to control law enforcement as he pleases. He paints the role of the FBI director as his personal subordinate. The FBI person really reports directly to the president of the United States, which is interesting. You know, which is interesting, he says.

It is true that the FBI director reports to the president. That is one half of a delicate but vital constitutional arrangement designed to ensure that neither the FBI director nor the president can amass completely untrammeled power over law enforcement in a way that would invite political abuse. That is why the FBI director has a ten-year term, rather than serving as a political appointee like other Executive branch officials. And it is why the bureau has the foundational creed that elected officials cannot interfere with any investigation. Instead, Trump reaffirms his view that he has the right to stop any law-enforcement investigation at will: I could have ended that whole thing just by saying they say it cant be obstruction because you can say: Its ended. Its over. Period, he states.

Six months into his presidency, foundational republican concepts remain as foreign as ever to Trump. He believes the entire federal government owes its personal loyalty to him, and that the office of the presidency is properly a vehicle for personal and familial enrichment. If the rule of law survives this era intact, it will only be because the president is too inept to undermine it.

A four-member parole board voted unanimously to set Simpson free as soon as October.

Surprisingly, a trash can is a decent shield against a giant blade.

A tough reporter and a lovely person, gone way, way too soon.

The latest version of Trumpcare would cost 22 million people health coverage, just like its predecessor, but McConnell has some room to maneuver.

Mujtaba al-Sweikat, accepted to Western Michigan University, was arrested for attending pro-democracy protests.

Doctors discovered a brain tumor during surgery to remove a blood clot last week.

Youd expect a presidential tirade against a top appointee to lead to a firing or resignation. Not with Donald Trump but the optics are terrible.

On Wednesday, Trump said Mueller shouldnt probe his business dealings. On Thursday, a report says Mueller is already doing it.

The president seems to think more time and effort will overcome the divisions among Senate Republicans on health care. So far, no signs hes right.

Heres a fun theory.

Last year, Trump promised universal health care. Now, to build support for throwing millions off insurance, his team is trying to make Obamacare fail.

The president explains his belief that a conflict of interest is any loyalty to anything but Trump.

Republicans took Obama to court over the presidents duty to take care that laws be faithfully executed. Democrats should do the same.

A former staffer for now-retired Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on the Trumpcare debacle.

Trumps former campaign chairman is set to testify before the Senate next week.

He says he wouldnt have hired Sessions if he knew hed recuse himself, suggesting he wanted the attorney general to control the Russia probe.

CBO says a straight repeal would cost 32 million their health coverage while doubling premiums.

Putin won in Syria, one anonymous official told the Washington Post.

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Donald Trump: L'tat, C'est Moi - New York Magazine

Separately, our correspondent reflects on what he witnessed in Mosul, Iraq, while he was embedded with Iraqi Special Operations Forces as they fought to retake the city from the Islamic State. One father said of his children: Theyve only known war and destruction.

In Washington, the Supreme Court has temporarily allowed the Trump administration to enforce restrictions on the nations refugee program, but it let stand a court order from Hawaii exempting grandparents and other relatives from the White Houses travel ban.

_____

The Polish governments push to control the judiciary has now led to threats of E.U. sanctions.

Frans Timmermans, first vice president of the European Commission, warned that Poland might slip outside the blocs definition of a democracy.

The governing Law and Justice party dismissed criticism as foreign interference. It holds a majority of seats in both chambers of Parliament and enjoys widespread popularity for its increased social spending.

_____

Most of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic that humanity has produced since the 1950s ends up in landfills or the ocean; about half of that has been made since 2004, according to the first analysis of all mass-produced plastics.

The primary explanation for the increase is plastics use in packaging.

_____

The British Open begins today in northwest England. Some of golfs top players are struggling right now, leaving the tournament wide open.

Meanwhile, Scotland is having a hard time attracting young people to the sport, invented on its lush greens. Some blame the weather.

And as the Tour de France scaled its highest Alpine peak, a rookie won Stage 17, but Chris Froome consolidated his overall lead. Marcel Kittel of Germany dropped out after a crash.

_____

Citigroup, the American lender with a trading hub in London, is said to be planning another hub in Frankfurt, to prepare for Britains departure from the European Union.

Mario Draghi is facing a difficult task today: preparing markets for the day the European Central Bank begins withdrawing stimulus.

Only one-third of the BBCs top-paid stars are women, according to data that the publicly funded British broadcaster published for the first time.

Heres a snapshot of global markets.

Senator John McCain has brain cancer. The former Republican presidential nominee has been critical of the Trump administrations distancing from NATO. [The New York Times]

We found out more about the sudden ouster of Saudi Arabias former crown prince. He was held against his will and pressured for hours to give up his claim to the throne. [The New York Times]

Frances top general resigned after his criticism of President Emmanuel Macrons plan to cut military spending was leaked to the news media. [The New York Times]

Miguel Blesa, a top Spanish banker who gained prominence in a corruption and embezzlement inquiry, was found dead with a gunshot wound. [El Pas]

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, was recorded making critical comments about the E.U. at a closed meeting with central European leaders in Hungary. [The Guardian]

Winston Churchill tried to suppress evidence suggesting that Britains Duke of Windsor, who was King Edward VIII before abdicating, wanted peace with Nazi Germany, newly released documents show. [Bloomberg]

To the Bone, a Netflix film, has opened a debate about eating disorders. Hundreds of readers shared their experiences. [The New York Times]

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

Enter the wilderness for increased exercise benefits.

But dont exercise too hard. Doctors say they are seeing more of a rare but dangerous condition among newcomers to spin classes.

Grilled steak marinated in teriyaki sauce is a foolproof dinner youll make again and again.

Witness a Ukrainian military summer camp for children outside of Kiev. As the conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists continues, they are encouraged to prepare to defend their country.

A military summer camp outside Ukraines capital, started by a volunteer regiment that fights pro-Russian rebels, trains children in warfare. We took our 360 cameras there for the video above.

The 2018 Pirelli calendar is consolidating its role as a cultural barometer. It reimagines Alices Adventures in Wonderland with an all-black celebrity cast.

Luc Besson talked to us about his sci-fi extravaganza, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. It is Frances most expensive film ever. Yeah, but who cares? he said.

If the flurry of tournaments this summer isnt enough for you, take note that an international competition thats as important to some athletes as the Olympics starts today.

Over the next 10 days, more than 3,000 athletes from 111 countries will compete at the 10th World Games in Wroclaw, Poland.

Like the Olympics, the competition occurs every four years and is under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. Some of the 31 sports at the World Games might be described as niche: tug of war, lifesaving, boules and casting (like fishing but without water).

The World Games are billed as a steppingstone for lesser-known sports to admission at the Olympic Games, and many representatives of those sports have put their hopes into showing that they, too, can attract a crowd.

John Liljelund, the worlds top floorball official, said, We have a clear possibility to showcase the value and interest of our sport.

There are precedents, although it is unclear how much of a role the World Games played.

Rugby, a World Games sport, was elevated to Olympic glory during last years Games in Rio de Janeiro. Surfing, karate and baseball will become Olympic sports in Tokyo in 2020.

Above, Team Japan during the womens tug of war competition in 2005.

_____

This briefing was prepared for the European morning. We also have briefings timed for the Australian, Asian and American mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters here.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online.

What would you like to see here? Contact us at europebriefing@nytimes.com.

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Donald Trump, John McCain, Golf: Your Thursday Briefing - New York Times

Even as his domestic approval ratings hit an all-time low, US president Donald Trump can take comfort in his growing popularity in some parts of Africas most populous nation.

Though his xenophobic, white nationalist views have no doubt alienated many Nigerians, his nativist and Islamophobic rhetoric has energized others. Indeed some see Trump as a political icon. Even though Trump has said little to nothing about Nigeria, these groups see in him a powerful figure sympathetic to their aims.

It goes without saying that Nigerians reaction to Trumps 2016 election victory was muted compared to their response to president Barack Obamas historic 2008 win. Over the course of his presidency, however, Nigerian goodwill toward Obama faded, hurt by his decision not to visit Nigeria, his support for gay marriage, and perceived unwillingness to supply arms to the Nigerian military. Former president Goodluck Jonathan even accused the Obama Administration of clandestinely supporting president Muhammadu Buharis candidacy, claiming U.S. actions during Nigerias 2015 presidential election amounted to interference.

Despite these irritants, 69% of Nigerians still view the United States favorably, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center poll. This reservoir of goodwillcombined with Trumps robust social media following and his ambivalence about contentious issues like human rightssuggests Trump might receive a warm welcome if he decided to visit Nigeria. A U.S. presidential visit is long overdue: the last was by George W. Bush in July 2003.

So how big is Trumps Nigerian fan base? In the absence of public polling, one quantifiable metric of Nigerian interest in Trump is the number of people following him on Twitter. Over 700,000 Nigerians tune in to Trumps tweets: over 2% of his 32 million followers, according to TweepsMap.com. His Nigeria-based Facebook is another useful metric of his popularity: between October and June it more than quadrupled, says analytics firm SocialBakers.com.

Nigeria has the 5th highest share of Trump followers on Twitter

Trumps social media popularity among Nigerians belies the fact that he didnt mention Nigeria during his campaign and has said little about it since becoming president, though he had a phone conversation with president Buhari in February. Trump has also approved the sale of fighter jets to Nigeria to help in its fight against Boko Haram.

Nevertheless, his generically nativist and Islamophobic messaging resonates with many particularly among some members of two ethno-political constituencies: Christian, self-described indigenes in the middle belts Plateau State and Igbo nationalists across the southeast.

Trumps boldness and guts represent hope for the defenseless. Obama was a disgrace and weak compared to Trump and Putin.Six weeks before Trumps election victory, on a cool evening outside JosPlateau States at times volatile capitala friend who is an up-and-coming local politico explained to me why he and other like-minded indigenes are attracted to the US president: Trumps boldness and guts represent hope for the defenseless, he said. Obama was a disgrace and weak compared to the likes of Trump and Putin. He speaks in favor of Islam which is the root cause of terrorism.

When I suggest Nigerians should be concerned by Trumps anti-immigrant stance and white supremacist sympathies, my friend acknowledged that these probably would influence his feelings toward Trump if he was a Nigerian-American living in the United States, but as a non-resident, it did not.

Like my friend, some self-described Biafrans (modern-day Igbo nationalists) have also emerged as vocal Trump supporters. Biafra was the name adopted by Nigerias then-Eastern Region when rebel leaders attempted to secede from Nigeria in 1967. Following a two-and-a-half year long civil war that left over 2 million people dead, Nigeria defeated the rebels.

Unbeknownst to him, Trump is being hailed as a patron of this controversial movement even though he lacks any connectiondirect or indirectto it. According to journalist Atane Ofiaja, Biafran affinity for Trump is rooted in his statements on political self-determination and radical Islam, while deliberately overlooking his racist, anti-immigrant policies.

These statements refer to a tweet Trump made in June 2016 in support of the British electorates decision to leave the European Union (Brexit):

Pro-Biafra websites pounced on the tweet, attempting to extrapolate Trumps support for Biafran independence from it, claiming it was a direct message to Nigeria that it should allow Biafrans to go.

Trumps Islamophobic pronouncements have also appeared to resonate with Biafra activists, who sometimes blame Nigerias northern Muslim leadership for oppressing their people over the decades.

It was the prayers of the Biafrans that stopped Hillary Clinton from winning the presidential election.After Trumps election victory, one spokesman proclaimed: Since Mr Trump is our choice, who will say no to Muslim colonization. It was the prayers of the Biafrans that stopped Hillary Clinton from winning the presidential election. Pro-Biafra activists on social media are amplifying this and other anti-Islamic narratives, merging them with pro-Trump and anti-Buhari messages.

Though extreme and at times unhinged, this rhetoric reflects the perception among some Nigerians that the Obama administration was unduly close to president Buhari and that it somehow facilitated his 2015 election victory. Six months into Trumps term, however, Biafran activists are beginning to express some disappointment that Trump has yet to acknowledge their plight and has instead cultivated a cordial relationship with their perceived archenemy: president Buhari.

As Trump enters his seventh month in the Oval Office, his administrations policy toward Nigeriaor toward Africa writ largehasnt coalesced. Trump has yet to appoint the two people who will heavily shape his approach to Nigeria: the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and the Senior Director for Africa on the National Security Council. Even more telling, Washington insiders have little sense of when he will name them or who they will be.

In the meantime, US policy toward Nigeria will largely be steered by US Ambassador to Nigeria W. Stuart Symington, an affable career diplomat and former ambassador to Rwanda. Since arriving in Abuja last year, Symington has worked hard to cultivate relationships across the federal and many state governments.

Unless Trumpvia a tweet or unscripted public musingdisrupts the US Nigeria policy consensus that guides diplomats like Symington, his Nigerian fan base may become increasingly disillusioned with a man they hoped would rally to their cause.

Sign up for the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief the most important and interesting news from across the continent, in your inbox.

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In spite of everything, Nigerians have a weird attraction to Donald Trump - Quartz

Give President Trump credit. Hes invented a new kind of political gaffe. It was on display at the first meeting of the voter fraud commission held at the White House today, when he blurted out a real motive for the whole sorry exercise: to find something.

Of course, the whole notion of a gaffe is somewhat quaint at this point. The dictionary says that a gaffe is a social or diplomatic blunder. Spilling the soup on the hostess, mispronouncing a name. Such missteps involved breached decorum. Over the years, in the political world, it has come to mean a statement by a public figure that inadvertently causes a scandal or controversy. A faux pas, a blooper.

The journalist Michael Kinsley famously explained that a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth. Ever since connoisseurs have known this as a Kinsley Gaffe.

Along comes Trump. A Trump Gaffe is when he tells the truth about his own malevolent motive for doing somethingand thus undermines the spin of his aides and allies. Thats not to be confused with other stumbles, say, starting World War III. (That would be worse than a gaffe.) But it tells us something about Trump nonetheless.

Examples abound. Take the firing of Federal Bureau of Investigations director James Comey. Everyone knew it would be scandalous if the president axed Comey because he was probing the Trump campaign and its ties to Russias political espionage. So the White House insisted he had acted only on the recommendation of the deputy attorney general, who lashed Comey for his conduct of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Vice President Mike Pence said Russia had nothing to do with the firing. That was not what this was about, he claimed.

Then, of course, Trump told NBCs Lester Holt, In fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, its an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. Oops!

That same week, Trump shared highly classified intelligence with Russias foreign minister in the Oval Office. H.R. McMaster, his widely respected national security adviser, grimly told cameras, This story is false. Within days, another Trump Gaffe: As President, I wanted to share [information] with Russia which I have the absolute right to do.

Trumps compulsive confessions can be especially hard on the lawyers. When the White House rushed out its executive order banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries, its defenders insisted in court that religion had nothing to do with it. In blocking the move, judges cited Trumps interview with the Christian Broadcast Network, in which he said Christian refugees would get priority. After officials put out a new version, claiming it was merely a pause, Trump demolished their arguments. People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN.

Wait, you might be thinking: Trump as truth-teller? Doesnt he lie repeatedly, brazenly? Arent his aides expected to amplify those lies? (Think of Sean Spicers flop-sweat as he insisted that the crowd size at Trumps inaugural set records.) Whats noteworthy is not Trumps precision about facts, but his compulsion to blurt out his own rationale, the darker the better. Its breaking through the fourth wall, a theatrical device familiar to viewers of Richard III or House of Cards.

All of which brings us to todays first meeting of the voting commission. The panel was created to justify one of the more outlandish presidential fibs: the idea that, In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. After Trump was roundly mocked for his claim of 3 to 5 million illegal voters, the panel was launched in an effort to try to rustle up some evidenceany evidencefor the charge. It was given a bland name, the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity. (Though Trump insisted on proudly calling it his VOTER FRAUD panel.)

The panel has had a slapstick launch. In contrast to voting inquiries in other administrations, with Noahs Ark style balance between the parties, this one is led by two partisan Republicans, Vice President Mike Pence, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, its vice chair and driving force. Its members include several of the most controversial purveyors of the urban myth of widespread fraud. Kobachs ham-fisted bid for personal voting information about tens of millions of voters, including partial Social Security numbers, provoked a fierce backlash, a flurry of lawsuits, and colorful denunciation from Republican and Democratic officials.

Todays task, plainly, was to start fresh. At its televised White House session, Mike Pence was on message. Three times throughout the day, he purred, using nearly identical wording. We have no preconceived notions or preordained results. Another commissioner chimed in. I appreciate, in spite of some of the media reports Ive seen, that the commission has no preconceived results.

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Time for a Trump Gaffe, this time in his opening remarks. No preconceived results? The goal of the panel, he explained in his remarks, was to find somethingsome evidence of misconduct. He was plainly peeved that so many states had refused to offer up voters personal data. If any state does not want to share this information, one has to wonder what theyre worried about.And I asked the Vice President, I asked the commission: What are they worried about? Theres something.There always is.

Hmm. Theres something. There always is. Where have we heard that before?

The more cynicalor literarymight remember the instructions the corrupt demagogue Willie Stark gave his henchmen in Robert Penn Warrens classic novel, All the Kings Men. Find some dirt on a judge, Stark told them. There is always something.

Maybe not on the judge.

Stark replied: Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud. There is always something.

So much for no preconceived notions, election integrity, and other mild reassurances.

Trumps brief flare of candor spoke volumes. The purpose of the panel is not just to try to justify his laughable claims of millions of invisible illegal voters. It aims to stir fears, to lay the ground for new efforts to restrict voting. Trumps claims, after all, are just a cartoon version of the groundless arguments already used to justify restrictive voting laws. Late today Kobach told MSNBC that we may never know if Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. Even the panels missteps can have harsh consequences. Already, were hearing reports from around the country of voters canceling their registrations because they do not want the White House to have their data.

So lets set aside the comic relief, and recognize that an insidious assault on basic democratic values is underway. Thats no gaffe. Thats an outrage.

Michael Waldman is president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. His most recent book, The Fight to Vote, was recently published in paperback.

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Donald Trump Tells His Voter Fraud Panel: Find Me 'Something' - Daily Beast

President Trump wants to turn back the clock on the progress made by the LGBTQ community and block any hope of full equality. He also wants to reverse advances for womens equality, including by blocking access to abortion and birth control. Hes already promised to appoint judges who will overturn Roe v. Wade, andnow he wants to roll back LGBTQ rights, womens rights, and those of many other Americans under the cover of religious liberty.

We know he wants to do this. We know because he has said so, and because he has taken preliminary steps to put his plan in motion. What we dont know yet is exactly what he is planning on doing, and who he is consulting about it.

Earlier this year, the ACLU filed requests with various federal agencies demanding information on how the administration was planning to expand religious exemptions that pave the way for discrimination. None of those federal agencies complied.

Thats why we are suing today. We are looking to unmask everything we can about Trumps plan, so we can best expose the threat he poses to the rights and dignity of countless Americans.

We know there are materials to uncover.

On May 4, Trump signed a vague and open-ended executive order claiming to promote Free Speech and Religious Liberty. In that order, Trump directed the Department of Justice and Attorney General Sessions to draft a religious freedom guidance. The order said little more.

But we have seen glimmers of what the administration has in mind, and its not good.

Starting with the most recent example, we know that a draft regulation currently circulating would permit any employer that objects for religious or moral reasons to deny its employees insurance coverage for contraception as otherwise mandated by law. The regulation would similarly let any university with religious or moral objections deny its students coverage. Today, if those employers or universities object, the insurance company generally picks up the coverage. That wouldnt be true under the Trump draft. Instead, women would literally pay for their employers religion.

A draft order, leaked in February, suggests more to come. It read like a broad license to discriminate, primarily targeting LGBTQ people and women and also opening the door to others as well. Among other provisions, it proposed to permit discrimination in taxpayer funded foster care services, blocking children from being able to be welcomed into loving homes. It proposed exemptions for institutions that object on religious or moral grounds to interacting with married same-sex couples, transgender people or people who have had premarital sex. And it called for changes to contraceptive coverage now reflected in draft regulation that is circulating within the administration. Really, it was nothing less than a list of many, many ways to sanction institutions to discriminate in the name of religion.

While Governor of Indiana, Vice President Pence signed into law a measure that could sanction discrimination against LGBTQ people and women, among others. That law sparked widespread backlash and cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

Again, the question is, what is the administration now planning for the nation?

We are suing to find out. And we are ready to sue again, if appropriate, when the administration starts to act on those plans.

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Religious liberty is fundamental. It guarantees the right to our beliefs. But religious liberty does not mean the right to impose our religion on others. It does not mean the right to harm others. It does not mean the right to discriminate.

We will not sit by while the administration distorts religious liberty to sanction to discrimination against women, religious minorities, and LGBTQ people.

We already know that a majority of Americans disapprove of these types of discriminatory religious exemptions, and believe that licensing discrimination under the guise of religious liberty undermines the foundation of freedom.

If the Trump administration is going to pursue these policies anyways, its time they come clean about what that looks like.

Louise Melling is a Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU and the Director of its Center for Liberty.

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Donald Trump Is Keeping His 'Religious Liberty' Plan Secret. The ACLU Is Suing So the Public Can See It. - Daily Beast