The Trump news cycle was calmer this week as the turmoil of the Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination died down. Kavanaugh was sworn into office on Monday, September 10, at the White House. During the ceremony, Trump apologized to Kavanaugh for his contentious and dramatic nomination process. Meanwhile, a new poll revealed that the majority of Americans disapprove of Kavanaugh's appointment, and believe that not enough was done to investigate the allegations against him.
On Tuesday, UN ambassador Nikki Haley announced that she will be stepping down from her post at the end of the year. She did not give a reason for resigning, but there are multiple theories, including that she wants to prepare to run for the presidency in 2020. Trump and Haley seem to be parting on amicable terms; during the press conference at which her departure was made public, Haley and Trump heaped praise upon each other.
Trump continued his midterm rallies this week. Republicans are expecting a tough fight, though they seem likely to retain control of the Senate. On Tuesday, Trump held a rally in Iowa, on Wednesday held one in Pennsylvania, and on Friday held another in Ohio. At all rallies, Trump gave rather rambling but crowd-pleasing speeches in which he touted his own success and lambasted Democrats for the Kavanaugh hearing and other sundry sins.
On Thursday, Trump had a 46-minute phone interview with his , during which he again spoke discursively about himself and his achievements. This marked the third phone interview Trump had given Fox News (NASDAQ: FOXA) in five days. Later that day, Trump held a lunchtime meeting with rapper Kanye West and retired football star Jim Brown in the Oval Office. The reason for the meeting was ostensibly to discuss "urban revitalization, the creation of Opportunity Zones, new workforce training programs, record highs in African American employment, the creation of manufacturing jobs, ideas from his meeting with African American pastors, potential future clemencies, and addressing the massive violent crime surge in Chicago."
It's unclear what qualifications West and Brown have to discuss these matters, beyond that they are both prominent African American supporters of Trump. It's also unclear whether the meeting produced progress for any of the aforementioned programs. What the meeting did produce was some very entertaining sound bites, particularly from Kanye West, who went on a long digression in which he said that "time is a myth," that school is "boring" so kids should "play basketball while [they're] doing math," and several other nonsensical gems.