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President Trump is no dewy-eyed debutante, but Sunday marked his coming-out party.

The noted homebody since coming to Washington, he has socialized only at the White House and at Trump-branded properties attended his first big outing amid the citys social and philanthropic crowd, the annual gala raising money for Fords Theatre, the historic venue where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Trump and his wife, Melania, hosted a warm-up reception before a show at the downtown theater, which marked the return of a tradition that dates back to the Carter administration. (The President and Mrs. Trump request the pleasure of your attendance read the invite to the late-afternoon event). Typically, the president hosts the black-tie gathering, which draws a crowd heavy on CEOs, lawmakers and the citys professional-partying class. So important is the exclusive mingle for donors at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., that when the Obamas werent available for last years shindig, the theater canceled the whole evening.

[No POTUS, no party: Fords Theatre cancels annual gala after White House says too busy]

I am proud to continue the tradition in honor of such a historic and cherished landmark, Melania Trump said in a statement.

The first couple she in a drapey champagne-colored Monique Lhuillier gown; he in a tux then attended a performance at the theater, in what was their first foray into the wilds of social Washington. At the gala, the president made remarks about the terrorist attack in London in which seven people were killed. Of the theater, he sounded a rare bipartisan note. Its a place where Americans of all backgrounds, from all parts, all over the world, from both parties can you believe that, from both parties; this may be one of the few times we unite; but well get there, you watch can come together and enjoy the arts in unity and in peace, Trump told the well-heeled crowd that included Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence, Sens.Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Though they have entertained at the White House and Mar-a-Lago, Trump has skipped the handful of premiere events that a president typically attends at least a few times during their tenure, notes Washington Life Senior EditorKevin Chaffee, a longtime observer of the citys galas-and-cocktails circuit. First, he snubbed the annual dinner put on by the Alfalfa Club, a group made up of corporate execs, military brass and senior pols. And another nope RSVP went out to the Gridiron Club, an elite group of Washington journalists and he famously turned down the White House Correspondents Dinner in April, something no president had done since Ronald Reagan (who only declined because hed been shot).

Trumps decision to attend the Fords gala was seen as a sign that perhaps the unpredictable commander-in-chief is prepared to engage in at least some of the social rites of the swamp he routinely derides.

This should certainly give hope to the folks at the Kennedy Center that he and the first lady will attend the honors gala in December, Chaffee says, mentioning another event at which the presidents attendance is a long-standing tradition.

So why this gala? Well, its not put on by the FAKE NEWS media, for one. And Trump has long expressed an affinity for Lincoln. Who could forget his praise of the Great Emancipator: Great president, Trump said at a GOP fundraising dinner in March. Most people dont even know he was a Republican, right? Well, the members of the folks who like to call themselves the party of Lincoln probably did.

He even once tweeted about the theater itself (theres a Trump tweet for everything, it seems), wondering why the 2012 biopic Lincoln didnt film there.

Perhaps, mused one longtime attendee, the often-contrarian president wanted to indicate another break with the Obamas, whose decision not to host last year was seen by some as a slight. Whatever the reason, the attendee was glad to see a glimmer of engagement: At least hes supporting the arts.

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Donald Trump makes Ford's Theatre gala his first Washington social outing - Washington Post

Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly denied he had any compromising material about U.S. President Donald Trump in a sometimes combative televised interview broadcast on Sunday.

"Well, this is just another load of nonsense," Putin said on NBC News' Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly,when asked whether he had any damaging information on the Republican president.

The remarks were the latest in a series of denials from Moscow that have had little impact so far on a political crisis in the United States over potential links between Russia and Trump's inner circle.

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The issue will be front and center this week in Washington, where former FBI Director James Comey is due to testify on whether Trump tried to get him to back off an investigation into alleged ties between Trump's election campaign and Moscow.

Putin was interviewed by NBC News's Megyn Kelly Sunday, and denied having compromising information on President Trump. screenshot

Comey, who was leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe into alleged Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election, was fired by Trump last month, four years into his 10-year term.

Putin also told NBC that regardless of Trump's previous travel to Russia as a businessman, he had had no relationship with him and had never met him. Putin noted that executives from perhaps 100 American companies were currently in Russia.

"Do you think we're gathering compromising information on all of them right now or something?" Putin asked, before saying: "Have you all lost your senses?"

Trump has offered contradictory accounts of his relationship with Putin over time but has also said the two never met. They have spoken several times by phone since Trump's election.

Trump has called an FBI investigation into alleged ties between his campaign and Russia a "witch hunt" designed to undermine the legitimacy of his 2016 election win.

Trump has also disparaged a dossier of unsubstantiated allegations that purported to show Russian intelligence operatives had compromising information about him, but which he has described as a "hoax."

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in January that Moscow tried to tilt the election campaign in Trump's favor, including by hacking into the emails of senior Democrats, a charge the Kremlin denies.

"They have been misled," Putin told NBC, in an interview NBC said was recorded on Friday. "And they aren't analyzing the information in its entirety. I haven't seen, even once, any direct proof of Russian interference in the (U.S.) presidential election."

Trump has denied any collusion but the FBI and congressional probes into the Russia matter have dogged the early months of his presidency.

Former CIA director John Brennan said last month he had noticed contacts between Trump's campaign associates and Russia during the 2016 election and grew concerned Moscow had sought to lure Americans down "a treasonous path."

After Comey's dismissal, news reports emerged that Trump asked Comey to end the probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn during a February meeting in the Oval Office, the day after Flynn was fired for misrepresenting his contacts with the Russian ambassador, Sergei Kislyak.

Flynn has declined to testify to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee about his Russian ties, invoking his constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination.

Putin downplayed Flynn's appearance with him at a December 2015 gala dinner in honor of the Russian television network Russia Today (RT), which U.S. officials consider a state-run propaganda outlet.

"I made my speech. Then we talked about some other stuff. And I got up and left. And then afterwards I was told, 'You know there was an American gentleman, he was involved in some things. He used to be in the security services'," Putin said.

"That's it. I didn't even really talk to him. That's the extent of my acquaintance with Mr Flynn," he added.

Reuters has reported that Flynn and Trump's son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, discussed with Kislyak the idea of creating a back channel between Trump and Putin that could have bypassed diplomats and intelligence agencies.

Putin said he was unaware of any such discussion and criticized NBC for asking about contacts between the ambassador and the Trump administration.

"You created a sensation out of nothing. And out of this sensation, you turned it into a weapon of war against the current (U.S.) president," Putin said.

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Vladimir Putin Denies Having Compromising Information on Donald Trump - Newsweek

As Londons police and counterterrorism forces responded to news of a deadly attack at London Bridge and Borough Market, President Donald Trump turned to Twitter.CreditPHOTOGRAPH BY CARL COURT / GETTY

In the hours after the London terrorist attack, President Trump took to his favored platform, Twitter, to deliver a stream-of-consciousness response. He repeated his call for a travel ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries. And he warned against political correctness. If we dont get smart it will only get worse, he said. Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? he added, in a puzzling non sequitur. Thats because they used knives and a truck.

For critics of Trump, his tweets betray a buffoonish approach to national security that will only make terrorism worse. His proposed travel restrictions will only aid recruitment for the Islamic State, they say. His demand, during a speech in Saudi Arabia, two weeks ago, for Muslim heads of state to do more ignores the reality that, since the September 11th attacks, vastly more Iraqi and Afghan soldiers and policethan American service members have died battling extremists. And Trumps loosening of Pentagon rules surrounding the use of air strikes and commando raids against the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and other terrorist groups will only lead to more civilian deaths, fuelling resentment and reprisals.

Yet several counterterrorism experts, including some who worked under President Obama, admitted to me, in private conversations recently, that new approaches to combat extremism are badly needed, and that Trump has a chance to take steps that could prove effective. The problem is that, just as in other policy areas, Trump threatens to undermine his own counterterrorism strategy with his bellicose mode of communication. His rhetoric belies a fundamental lack of understanding of the greater nuances of the issue, and in particular the root causes that have allowed ISIS to prey on the vulnerable and disaffected in our communities, a former senior counterterrorism official told me on Sunday. His immediate call for a ban on Muslims in the wake of the most recent attack and throughout his short time as President is arguably more likely to alienate Muslim Americans, and thus potentially inspire further acts of homegrown terrorism, than it is to prevent terrorists from entering the country and perpetrating terrorist acts.

Several former officials said that they generally supported Trumps cruise-missile strike on a Syrian airbase, in April, after U.S. intelligence officials said Syrian government forces carried out a chemical-weapons attack that killed scores of people, including children. The counterterrorism experts told me that the strikes showed American allies and adversaries alike that Trump would be more willing to use force than Obama, who critics said lost credibility when he failed to respond militarily to a 2013 chemical-weapons attack by the Syrian government that killed hundreds.

Trump also appears to be continuing to emphasize a core element of Obamas strategy, that countries in the region should lead the fight. The Trump Administrations recent hundred-and-ten-billion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia is similar to one carried out under the Obama Administration, which worked to build up the military, intelligence, and police capabilities of allies in the region in a much less public way than Trump has thus far. Obama also embraced the use of covert drone strikes, intense vetting of visa applicants, and the stepped-up use of surveillance technologies, angering many on the left.

Trump has opportunities to make progress in areas where Obama struggled, such as developing consensus regarding new communications technologies, the officials said. Terrorists are increasingly using sophisticated encryption techniques to mask their communications, but Obama Administration officials were unable to reach an agreement with technology companies on ways to curb such uses that balanced privacy and public-safety concerns. Now Trump or his aides could try to quietly fashion some type of compromise.

Trump has yet to unveil a comprehensive strategy from his Administration to fight terrorism. As Dexter Filkins recently wrote, ina Profile of Defense Secretary James Mattis, some officials fear that Trump will bluster about terrorism in public but privately delegate strategy to the military. Some U.S. military commanders welcomed an end to what they viewed as micromanagement and risk aversion by the Obama White House, but they fear that the inexperienced Trump will become overly reliant on military force.

But where Trump has been most dangerous, former counterterrorism officials told me, is in his public statements, and the way he has publicly harangued alliesfrom Muslim leaders to NATO membersoften while citing incorrect facts. Now, in the wake of three successful attacks in Britain in three months, the worry is that attacks will occur in the United States as well, and Trump will revert to a pattern of fearmongering. The President could convince Congress to enact new surveillance standards that erode civil liberties but fail to end attacks. Or Trump could publicly vilify Islam, a step that will alienate American Muslims and aid extremist recruiting efforts domestically and internationally. You end up with the legislation that is bad for everybody, the former senior counterterrorism official told me. Bad for counterterrorism and bad for civil liberties.

Counterterrorism is one area where Trump could take advantage of the bipartisan consensus that exists regarding some anti-terror policies, the officials whom I talked to said. But, if the Presidents inability to communicate with discipline, accuracy, and nuance continues, he will only alienate allies and inflame enemies.

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What Donald Trump Can Do to Help Stop Terrorism: Talk Less - The ... - The New Yorker

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Getty Images

Al Drago, a photographer for the New York Times, shared a photo of former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning at the White House on Sunday.

According to Drago, Manning was with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). President Donald Trump was returning from Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Virginia:

CNN's Allie Malloy posted photos of Manning and Corker at the White House, as well as Trump National:

The Daily Beast'sKelly Weillreported in January that Manning had been active with regard to political donations. In addition to giving money to George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, he supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential elections. Manning also donated to Corker's campaigns in 2006 and 2009.

While Manning supported the presidential bid of Jeb Bush, he has since shifted his support to Trump. Politico'sJake Sherman, Anna Palmer and Daniel Lippmanreported the 14-time Pro Bowler was slated to speak at a January GOP retreat, with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence among the other speakers.

During media day for Super Bowl 50 in February 2016, Manning told reporters he had golfed with Trump before.

"I played a round of golf with him in Tahoe," Manning said, per theHouston Chronicle'sAl Saracevic. "I didn't play real well, so I was kind of focused on trying to find my ball. ... The times I've been around him, he's been extremely nice to me."

Amid rumors he had aspirations of his own political career, Manning said in March hedoesn't plan on runningfor elected office.

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Peyton Manning Reportedly Joins Donald Trump at Golf Course - Bleacher Report

Donald Trump has been taken to task for claiming, in his speech announcing the United States would exit from the Paris climate "treaty," that "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." Numerous people have pointed out that Trump did not carry the city of Pittsburgh; it voted for Hillary Clinton by a margin of 75 to 21 percent. They might have added that surrounding Allegheny County, taken as a whole, voted 56 to 39 percent for Clinton over Trump.

But it's also true that Trump did carry the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, which by government definition includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland Counties. After all, when people mention a city's name, they are often referring not just to the area within the municipal limits of the central city, but to the larger metropolitan area.

Boston is often understood to include Cambridge, Los Angeles to include Beverly Hills, etc., etc.

Trump carried metro Pittsburgh over Hillary Clinton by 50 to 46 percent, rounding off each result to integers. This was only the fourth time in the last 75 years that a Republican presidential candidate has carried metro Pittsburgh: Mitt Romney won it 50 to 49 percent in 2012, Richard Nixon by 56 to 42 percent in 1972 and Dwight Eisenhower by 53 to 46 percent in 1956. The latter two were in years of national Republican landslides, and the only two times in 65 years when a Republican nominee won a significantly higher percentage there than did Trump (49.6 percent) or Romney (49.7 percent). And Trump received more popular votes in metro Pittsburgh (573,467) than any other Republican except Nixon in 1972 (580,268) and Eisenhower in 1956 (575,540).

In contrast, Clinton's 46 percent was the second-lowest percentage in metro Pittsburgh of any nominee in the last 65 years, ahead of George McGovern's 42 percent in 1972 and fractionally lower than Adlai Stevenson's 46 percent in 1956. The number of popular votes she won in the metro area (531,901) was 497 votes ahead of Barack Obama in 2012 (531,404), but behind Obama in 2008 (575,893), John Kerry in 2004 (597,172), Michael Dukakis in 1988 (559,611), Walter Mondale in 1984 (597,418), Jimmy Carter in 1976 (535,784), Hubert Humphrey in 1968 (573,276), Lyndon Johnson in 1964 (754,677), John F. Kennedy in 1960 (647,611) and Adlai Stevenson in 1952 (573,390).

These numbers reflect significant changes in political alignment and attitudes in metro Pittsburgh that are typical of some other parts, but not most parts, of the nation. This is an area with very low population growth: Turnout in 1960 (1,162,995) was higher than in 2016 (1,157,318), though that latter number was higher than in any election year in between. Historically, Pittsburgh was dominated economically by the steel industry and politically, from the 1930s to the 1980s, by management/union differences. The shutdown of many steel mills in the 1979-82 period produced a swing toward the Democratic party, contrary to the national trend: Walter Mondale carried metro Pittsburgh 56 percent to 44 percent and Michael Dukakis carried it 59 percent to 40 percent.

Since then, metro Pittsburgh has developed a post-industrial economy, heavily weighted toward meds and eds: healthcare (it's the only million-plus metro area with more deaths than births) and tech, driven by institutions like Carnegie-Mellon University. The central city of Pittsburgh has only about half the population it did in 1950 and casts only 13 percent of the metro area's votes; it is also increasingly gentrified, with many old buildings rehabilitated and neat entertainment and restaurant districts.

Pittsburgh is something of an outlier among our 50 or so million-plus metro areas. Once more Democratic than most, especially in the 1980s, it is now more Republican than most proof that the Trump constituency is not simply a revival of the Reagan constituency. Its voting over the years shows the waning of affection for the Democratic party among blue collar and Catholic voters. Its voting in 2016 were not widely out of line with a movement this century away from the Democratic party, but was a significant extension of it enough to give the Republican nominee, for the first time since 1988, Pennsylvania's electoral votes.

This trend provides justification for Donald Trump's statement that he was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, but only if you understand him to be referring to the metropolitan area, not the central city that cast 13 percent of its votes.

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Donald Trump actually did carry (metro) Pittsburgh - Washington Examiner