*By Carlo Versano*
So far, Vice President Mike Pence has struck a remarkable political balance: portraying a seemingly limitless devotion to the president, sidestepping all the administration's controversies, and also seeding his own base of support for the possibility that Trump will leave office before his term is up.
Such is the argument of "Shadow President," a new book by political journalists Michael D'Antonio and Peter Eisner.
"Mike has a history of plausible deniability," Eisner said Monday in an interview on Cheddar, adding that the VP had "no reason" to pen the anonymous op-ed roiling the Capital.
Trump's second-in-command has calculated that blind allegiance to the president is in his best political interest, said Eisner, who added that Pence often appears to look at his boss with a "loving gaze," an observation that prompted George Will to [call] (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-no-longer-the-worst-person-in-government/2018/05/09/10e59eba-52f1-11e8-a551-5b648abe29ef_story.html?utm_term=.8d24abadf3d5) him "America's most repulsive public figure."
"He has been in lock step behind the president on every point," Eisner said.
One of Pence's main roles ー something that's always a central part of the VP gig ー has been to act as a surrogate for Trump, traversing the country and speaking to the president's grassroots supporters, often whipping up the crowd by saying, "I come here with greetings from the president of the United States."
In this case, Pence hopes he can turn that base of support into his own, should the time come, Eisner said.
If Pence becomes president, either by Trump's downfall or the rise of his own campaign, Americans should expect a continuation of Trump policies and an extreme ideological bend, said Eisner, who referred to Pence as "the most successful Christian supremacist in American history."
"Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence" is available in stores and online.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/what-would-a-pence-presidency-look-like).
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now.
Rep. John Moolenaar has requested an urgent briefing from the White House after Trump supported a deal giving Americans a majority stake in TikTok.
A new report finds the Department of Government Efficiency’s remaking of the federal workforce has battered the Washington job market and put more households in the metropolitan area in financial distress.
A new poll finds U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think immigrants in the country legally benefit the economy. That comes as President Donald Trump's administration imposes new restrictions targeting legal pathways into the country. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds Americans are more likely than they were in March 2024 to say it’s a “major benefit” that people who come to the U.S. legally contribute to the economy and help American companies get the expertise of skilled workers. At the same time, perceptions of illegal immigration haven’t shifted meaningfully. Americans still see fewer benefits from people who come to the U.S. illegally.
