Dixie House Cafe

The White House did not say on Sunday with whom Kushner met, but a senior White House official said in a statement that Kushner, deputy national security adviser for strategy Dina Powell, and special representative for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt recently returned as part of the ongoing Middle Eastern peace talks.

The Trump-Kushners are expected to join the president on the first three stops on his trip, in Japan, Korea, and China, though nothing is set. The special counsel has also been scrutinizing conversations between payday loans no credit check Trump campaign and Russian officials, including one meeting at Trump Tower attended cash advance by Kushner and a handful of others.

And close observers wonder whether the couple will be celebrating next year's occasion in New York, and with whom. In yet another Trump-beat newsroom raid, Payday loans no credit check Washington Post has hired rising-star White House reporter Josh Dawsey, from Politico. At the Post, he will join a six-person White House team following the recent departure of Abby Phillip for CNN.

Politico recruited Dawsey, now 27, from The Wall Street Journal-where he was a well-respected but not terrifically well-known New York City Hall reporter-at the end of last year, moved him to Washington, and turned him loose on the West Wing. Dawsey, an energetic, ink-stained-wretch type with a payday loans no credit check of South Carolina drawl, had a gift for covering the soap opera, but also has notched more substantive scoops on Russia and on various policy developments.

Dawsey declined to comment when I called him on Thursday. But his exit would appear to be the latest sign that Politico-where I worked before coming to Vanity Fair in July-has cultivated some of the hottest commodities among the current crop of big-ticket national political reporters.

That also means Politico, now 10 years old, has been particularly susceptible to poaching. The conga line of Politico reporters moving to legacy outlets since the 2016 campaigns began to heat up includes Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush, Alex Burns, Ken Vogel, Tara Palmeri, Manu Raju, Hadas Gold, Ben Schreckinger-who else am I missing.

So losing people like Dawsey to those places has to be painful, especially after Politico had re-grouped following a dramatic split last year with Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and other senior managers who went on to form Axios. But, as long as the Trump administration keeps churning, so will the talent system in political journalism, where Politico, in some ways ahead of the pack, is also the farm team.

But by securing indictments of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, and a surprise guilty plea from foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, Mueller announced loudly that the Russia investigation poses an existential threat to the president. For the first time since the investigation began, the prospect of impeachment is being considered as a realistic outcome and not just a liberal fever dream. According to a source, advisers in the West Wing are on edge and doing whatever they can not to be ensnared.

The consensus among the advisers I spoke to is that Trump faces few good options to thwart Mueller. Trump, meanwhile, has reacted to the deteriorating situation by lashing out on Twitter and venting in private to friends. And what about Tony Podesta. Trump is like, When is that going to end. When Roger Stone recently told Trump that Kushner was giving him bad political advice, Trump agreed, according to someone familiar with the conversation.

But these soft-power approaches are being criticized by Trump allies including Steve Bannon and Roger Stone, who both believe establishment Republicans are waiting for a chance to impeach Trump. In a series of phone calls with Trump on Monday and Tuesday, Bannon told the president to shake up the legal team by installing an aggressive lawyer above Cobb, according to two sources briefed on the call.

Right now he has unchecked power. The collapse of Obamacare repeal, and the dimming chances that tax reform will pass soon-many Trump allies are deeply pessimistic about its prospects-have created the political climate for establishment Republicans to turn on Trump. Two weeks ago, according to a source, Bannon did a spitball analysis of the Cabinet to see which members would remain loyal to Trump in the event the 25th Amendment were invoked, thereby triggering a vote to remove the president from office.

But this pushes him aside. ShareEmailFacebookTwitterKia MakarechiKia Makarechi is VanityFair. He lives in New York. As the ultimate expression of Mercedes-Benz, the Mercedes-Maybach S600 is the crown jewel in the brand's flagship S-Class range and an important moment that represents a change in thinking for the iconic manufacturer.

Having abandoned the notion of Maybach as a stand-alone product to rival the likes of Rolls-Royce, Mercedes moved to establish Maybach as a sub-brand representing the ultimate in luxury in a similar manner to its AMG designation for performance models.

The top-of-the-range S-Class is naturally first in line to receive the Maybach treatment, which will then flow to other models likely to include the upcoming GLS-Class full-sized SUV. It is easy to dismiss the Mercedes-Maybach as "just" another S-Class variant when approaching it for the first time, but a closer inspection reveals important changes. The most immediate development is its size, as the Maybach has a 200 millimetre wheelbase extension over the long-wheelbase S-Class that lends gravitas to the six-metre-long limo.

Curiously, the Maybach's rear doors are 66 millimetres shorter than those of the long wheelbase S-Class, allowing the rear seats to be tucked behind the C-pillar to create "a feeling of exceptional privacy and exclusivity", according to the brand. The car wears Mercedes-Benz badges for the most part, aside from a stylised Maybach crest on the C-pillar and script on the boot.

Its flanks have additional chrome trim and the nose bears a special grille with three twin-row chrome louvers that join retro dished alloy wheels. One detail of note is that the Maybach has its own paint process that involves abrading the surface of its first gloss coat then re-applying further clear layers to lend a sense of depth to its bodywork. But the most significant changes are reserved for the interior. While the improvements are relatively subtle, they build on the already opulent S-Class family.

Drivers familiar with the platform will be in recognisable territory save for a new voice amplification system befitting the Maybach's likely status as a chauffeur-driven machine, allowing rear-seated owners to comfortably hear the deferential tones of their driver. Having studied rivals from Rolls-Royce and Bentley, Mercedes says the Maybach S600 is "the world's quietest production saloon car", and it is easy to accept that in the most spacious rear cabin on sale.

Reporters reviewing the new model spent more time in the back seat than in the driver's chair, as that is where the majority of customers are expected to spend their time. Twin executive seats offer an impressive range of adjustment, reclining well beyond what other models offer.

Headrest, backrest, seat cushion and leg support areas all adjust independently with door-mounted electronic controls that allow passengers to find the perfect position to unwind. It's a special place to be, an intersection between business and pleasure crafted for oligarchs accustomed to only the finest things in life. With an airy, open feel assisted by a new panoramic sunroof with electronically controlled tinting, the Maybach has a similar layout to the S-Class but uses materials that outclass its sibling.