White House Watch: Here's Larry!

But What About Trade?—Despite his closeness with the president, Larry Kudlow’s appointment raised a few eyebrows given his criticism earlier this month of President Trump’s latest big economic initiative: the steel and aluminum tariffs. Kudlow, Steve Moore, and economist Art Laffer even wrote an article on March 5 gently urging Trump to reconsider his protectionism.

“Ronald Reagan in the 1980s invoked anti-dumping provisions against Japanese steel,” Kudlow and his co-authors wrote. “It was one of his few decisions he later confessed he wishes he hadn't made. ‎Trump will come to learn the same thing, and we hope it is sooner, not later.”

But Cohn’s resignation following the imposition of the tariffs is a sign that Peter Navarro, the chief protectionist on the White House team, is ascendant. Where Navarro and Cohn clashed, however, those who know Kudlow expect a more conciliatory relationship. In fact, appearing on CNBC Wednesday after the announcement, Kudlow said, “In my mind, Peter Navarro is an equal.”

On the Podcast—I joined my colleague Jonathan V. Last on the Daily Standard podcast Wednesday, along with host Charlie Sykes. We discussed, among other things, the outcome of the special election in Pennsylvania and the personnel moves in the White House. Take a listen here.

Column of the Day—From Ross Douthat at the New York Times: “When Trump Takes Charge”

United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley publicly condemned Russia on Wednesday for the poisoning of former British spy Sergei Skripal, saying the United States stands in “absolute solidarity” with the United Kingdom.

“The Russians complained recently that we criticize them too much,” Haley said in an address to the U.N. Security Council. “If the Russian government stopped using chemical weapons to assassinate its enemies . . . we would stop talking about them.”

The Trump White House had previously declined to formally accuse Russia, saying the administration would await British action regarding the assassination. Skripal was killed with a Russia-developed nerve agent on British soil earlier this month. But British Prime Minister Theresa May took serious action against Russia earlier Wednesday, expelling 23 Russian diplomats from the United Kingdom and vowing to expand counterespionage efforts against the Kremlin.

"If we don’t take immediate, concrete measures to address this now, Salisbury will not be the last place we see chemical weapons used," Haley said. "They could be used here in New York, or in cities of any country that sits on this council."

2018 Watch—Chris McDaniel, the conservative Mississippi Republican who nearly defeated incumbent senator Thad Cochran in a brutal 2014 primary, will run in a special election for Cochran’s seat, which the 80-year-old Cochran is resigning from next month for health reasons. McDaniel had previously announced he would challenge Mississippi’s other GOP senator, Roger Wicker, in a primary for that seat, which is up in 2018.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has insisted for days that he had no knowledge of a $31,000 furniture set purchased for his office. But new emails obtained by a liberal watchdog group and released by CNN Wednesday seem to contradict Carson’s claim. From CNN:

An August email from a career administration staffer, with the subject line "Secretary's dining room set needed," to Carson's assistant refers to "printouts of the furniture the Secretary and Mrs. Carson picked out." . . .
HUD spokesman Raffi Williams initially denied the Carsons had any involvement in the dining set selection.
"Mrs. Carson and the secretary had no awareness that the table was being purchased," he told CNN last month.
A HUD spokesman went further at the time, blaming the purchase on an unnamed career staffer. "The secretary did not order a new table. The table was ordered by the career staffers in charge of the building," he said.

Stormy Watch—From the Wall Street Journal: “Top Trump Company Lawyer Worked to Silence Stormy Daniels”