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silver iphone 6 on brown wooden table with news feed on screen
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HC Wake-Up Call: Trump Raises Doubts About Trump-Kim Summit, Giuliani’s New Stance on Russian Collusion & There’s a Sinkhole on the White House Lawn

Emily Veith

Good morning, Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.

But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)

Trump Raises Doubts About His Summit With North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un

President Donald Trump raised doubts on Tuesday about the future of the upcoming summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said to take place on June 12, ABC News reports.

“If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later. Maybe it will happen at a different time,” Trump said in the Oval Office with South Korea President Moon Jae-in sitting beside him. “The meeting is scheduled as you know on June 12th in Singapore. And whether or not it happens, you will be knowing pretty soon.”

“But it may not work out for June 12,” Trump added. “But there is a good chance that we will have the meeting.”

Responding to reporters’ questions during his meeting with Moon, Trump implied again that China may have pressured North Korea to take a stronger stance in negotiations.  

“I will say I’m a little disappointed because when Kim Jong Un had the meeting with President Xi in China, the second meeting,” Trump said. “I think there was a little change in attitude from Kim Jong Un. So I don’t like that. I don’t like that. I don’t like it from the standpoint of China.”

“Now maybe nothing happened,” Trump added. “I’m not blaming anybody. But maybe nothing happened and maybe it did. There was a different attitude by the North Korean folks after that meeting.”

Trump did say that the coordination for the summit was “moving along” and said he believes Kim “will be extremely” pleased when they are able to reach a satisfactory deal that rids the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons, ABC News reports.

“I do think he is serious,” Trump said. “I think that he would like to see that happen.”

But again, Trump said there was a chance that such an agreement might not work out.

However, Trump tried to reassure Kim, saying, “I will guarantee his safety. Yes. I will guarantee his safety. And we talked about that from the beginning. He will be safe. He will be happy. His country will be rich.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who at this point is the highest-ranking U.S. official to meet with a North Korean leader, said he had confidence that the meeting between Trump and Kim would take place, ABC News reports.

Trump Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Has a New Stance on Russian Collusion

In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani disputed the idea that President Donald Trump’s frequent reference to reportedly Russian-aligned WikiLeaks during his presidential campaign meant there was collusion with Russia.

Then he switched to say: “OK, and if it is, it isn’t illegal… It was sort of like a gift. And you’re not involved in the illegality of getting it.”

Giuliani told HuffPost he is still not convinced that emails were stolen from the Democratic National Committee by the Russians, and wouldn’t accept the word of former CIA Director John Brennan or former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

“You say stolen. I say, emails that were put out in the public domain,” Giuliani said. “You’d also have to believe that U.S. intelligence was correct. They’ve been right about a lot of things. They’ve been wrong about a lot of things. I certainly wouldn’t trust Clapper or Brennan as far as I could throw them.”

“Those are simply the facts,” said Sen. Mark Warner, ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “So Mr. Giuliani could not be more wrong. Make no mistake, these are dangerous efforts aimed at distracting us from the truth and they have the chilling effect of dismissing the seriousness of the Russian threat.”

Former acting CIA Director John McLaughlin agreed, saying, “Giuliani is just wrong on that point. Either Trump simply didn’t care that this material came from the Russians, or was so foolish and naïve to think that it was OK to use it, or, and it’s a big ‘or,’ that he did so knowing full well that he was cooperating with the Russians.”

According to HuffPost, Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign staffer who had been fired by Trump more than a year before the election, said he believes the Trump campaign was desperate and decided to use the material provided by the Russians during the campaign and worry about the consequences after the fact.

“I don’t think they were working with them. I think they were willing to take advantage of it. It’s about winning,” Nunberg said. “You’re supposed to win. That’s just the reality of it.”

There’s a Sinkhole on The White House Lawn & The Internet Has Made the Best Jokes

Despite all the chaos that has ensued in Washington D.C. as of late, this sinkhole appeared on the White House lawn that seems to be growing each day might just be the more pressing problem.

The sinkhole, which was first reported by White House correspondents this week, opened up right outside the press briefing room, The Washington Post reports.

It is not clear what caused this sinkhole to occur, but as of Tuesday afternoon, groundskeepers at the White House had covered it with orange cones and caution tape.

But that hasn’t stopped the internet for coming up with the best jokes for the sinkhole.

“An actual, literal sinkhole has opened on the White House lawn outside the briefing room on the north side. Even the earth is trolling Trump and I’m here for it,” one Twitter user wrote.

“Melanie’s escape tunnel caved in,” one person joked, referring to when President Trump accidentally misspelled his own wife’s name on Twitter.

Another Twitter user called the sinkhole a “resistance icon.”

And, of course, it didn’t take that long for the sinkhole to get its own Twitter account.

This isn’t the first time that a sinkhole has opened near a Trump residence, though. According to The Post, a sinkhole opened in front of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s property in Palm Beach, Florida exactly one year ago. That sinkhole was much bigger, but local officials blamed it on a recently installed water main in the area, The Post reports.

But, dare I say, the White House sinkhole might be a sign of something ~deeper~.

What to look out for…

Remember how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle invited 1,200 members of the public to attend the royal wedding? Well, some guests are selling the gift bags they received from the royal couple online. So if you want to score a piece of royal history, or just check out the royal-themed goodies, check it out here. 

Emily has also authored political articles for Restless Magazine and numerous inspirational and empowering pieces for Project Wednesday. When she isn't writing, she can be found flying off to her next adventure, attempting new recipes, listening to one of her infinite playlists on Spotify, or cuddling with her dogs. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter @emilycveith.