Have very strong borders and we have to change our laws and were working on doing that. We had a trade deficit of almost 500 billion last year with china. We cant continue to allow this to happen where hundreds of billions of dollars is taken out of our country and our system. I want to get out, i want to bring our troops back home. I want to start rebuilding our nation. We will have as of three months ago 7 trillion in the middle east over the last 17 years we get nothing, nothing out of it. Talk about going back to campaign mode. Today he resurrected comments that launched his campaign. Lets watch. Remember my opening remarks at trump tower when i opened, everybody said oh, he was so tough. I used the word rape and yesterday it came out where this journey coming up women are raped at levels that nobodys ever seen before. They dont want to mention that. Trump seems to be returning to the guiding principle that got him into office in the first place he alone can fix it. Theyve given you nothing. I will give you everything. I will give you what youve been looking for 30, 40, 50 years. Nobody knows the system better than me. Which is why i alone can fix it. I alone can fix it. According to several sources who spoke to the washington post, the president s telling advisers that hes finally expediting the policies that got him elected and is more comfortable without a number of aides around him who are tempering his instincts. Hes feeling more confident in his job than at any other point in his 14 months as president and feels empowered to act upon things he has long wanted to do. Part of that confidence comes from recent polls. According to the Associated Press and the cnn polls the president has seen a sevenpoint increase in popularity since february. However, some of his actions have had unintended political consequences. Brewing talk of a trade war with china could devastate rural voters who backed trump, providing an opening for vulnerable democrats in red stateth sta states. For more, im joined by eugene robinson, column list for the washington post, and an msnbc news contributor. Michael steele, former chairman of the Republican National committee and, ashley, lets start with the News Analysis here. Trump seems to be thinking if i raise the heat, its good for me. Is he riding off of his higher poll numbers . Whats about this steaming up of his politics in every direction no china, mexico, everything. Well, the president is coming into his own as the president. He was a little tentative and hesitant at the beginning and he would defer more to his advisers, especially on issues that werent gut visceral issues for him. Now west wing aides tell us he feels more comfortable, he feels emboldened and this is someone who always wanted to play to his base. If there was ever a debate or a question of where hes going to go, hes going to go to that read meat, that base, those lines that got him huge applause during rallies and thats what were seeing right now. Is there any difference between him and his base . In other words, is he honestly against stupid wars . A phrase a lot of us liked hearing back in 16. Is he really for tough trade policy . Is he really against illegal immigration from across the border to the south . Does he feel those issues as well as his base does or is he playing to his base . All of those issues youve mentioned are the three core issues where trump is not particularly ideological but on those three issues, especially immigration, and especially trade these are things he, like a lot of his base, feels at a gut core level and its not stuff he started talking about on the campaign trail but stuff hes been talking about for decades. So if theres any ideology to him, its on these issues. Gene, hes going back to steve bannon country. This is economic nationalism, ethnic nationalism if you will, certainly on the big three we just talkeds about, stupid wars, china and immigration, its pure trump. It is. In terms of management style, hes starting to run the white house the way he ran the Trump Organization which is basically a oneman show. Now i dont think you can run the United States of america like that but he seems determined to try. And what can go wrong . Well just these core issues can backfire on him, if you look at the trade issue, he is he has his view of our trade deficit is that such that is basically launching a trade war with china and china is going to target its retaliation, already has, specifically at those groups that form trumps base so they will know how to inflict pain, political pain, on the president. This is going to be fascinating and i dont think this is a great idea for him. The chinese, i wouldnt underestimate them, theyre longterm planners but when they go after the soybeans, tell me about that. When you go to a Chinese Restaurant in this country you have soy sauce or whatever. You have soy sauce, but do you think they picked that out because it was a way of getting at the iowa voters and screwing trump in the Iowa Caucuses in 2020 . Absolutely. Absolutely. It absolutely is a way of screwing trump. China is a big importer of u. S. Agricultural products and soy beans is thats a big deal. So if you look at the whole line of items on which china is retaliating are like a political map of the trump base and clearly and obviously and very smartly designed to cause himmi people behind trump wanted to see he has the same attitude or they care about results . Are they happy if he just screams and shows he doesnt like Illegal Immigrants from across the border from mexico, if he screams against the chinese and acts tough and tries to get us out of the middle east, its just the exercise of trying to do those things, do they win votes and keep votes with him and his base . I think thats partly right, yeah. There is this desire to reconnect with them when the wheels seemingly come off. We saw that just this past week with his daca position being exposed, if you will, to the base by ann coulter and others who were blowing a gasket of where the president seemingly was ending up on this daca thing. What did he do . He doubled down, the rhetoric heated up and it was his way of reassuring his base through his words that im still with you. Heres the test, though. The test will become one of action with respect to the border, daca, for example and on maybe other Economic Issues like instruct possibly. They turned that corner a little bit, chris, on tax reform, but thats had mixed results so far because of what the president has said on trade and other things impacting the economic progress that has been made. So the president is sandwiching himself in between his red rick and the actions he knows hes going to have to take on some of these thorny issues, which is why youve seen the reread ttre and renaming the border wall looking at a fence going, well, thats a wall, too. Ashley, you covered the white house and this whole political whatever it is. When i keep hearing people on the Progressive Side or even the moderate side of politics, center right or center left and theyre giving public advice in their columns to trump, i keep thinking they dont like trump, they want trump to fail so why should he take their advice . He s he skeptick is he skept people who dont like him and what does he think of the advice he gets from the left . Its an interesting question because hes someone who is very skeptical, for instance, of the republican establishment in getting advice from them. Hes almost likely to willfully disregard it but at the same time he takes advice from very unlikely people, people who arent necessarily qualified to advise him on policies. Hell talk to an old friend, a longtime billionaire, someone who has been quite successful but may know nothing about Border Security and hell take their advice. He talks to celebrities or fox news personalities. So hell take advice from a wide range of areas but theyre not traditional ones and theyre rarely the mainstream or even the republican establishment. According to the walk, President Trump is discovering that the policies he once described as easy fixes for the country are more complicated in reality. Look at donald trump the candidate versus donald trump the president. Youre going to have such Great Health Care at a tiny fraction of the cost. And its going to be so easy. Now, i have to tell you, its an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated. If china does not stop its illegal activities i will use every lawful president hey, look, this is very easy, this so easy. The wall is peanuts. Thats going to be one of the easy negotiations, believe me. We intend to get along with china but we have to do something substantial about the trade deficit and with that nothing is easy. Reporter have there been any more efforts to get mexico to pay for the wall . Well, yeah, i believe that mexico will pay for the wall. As you know were negotiating nafta, well see how that goes. I do well with congress, ive worked with politicians all my life. Theyre easy. I said to the republicans and these are good people, they really want and i know they get hit hard, the senators, the congressmen, but theyre all working hard, its not so easy. Its complicated stuff. Gene, he came in like the man on horse back, the frightening figure of the right weve always been afraid of. The guy who comes in and says im going to solve all your problems, just give me all the power. I think on some level he did think it would be easy and that comes from his having had zero experience in government and zero experience with the issues and, frankly, zero inclination to learn the issues in any sort of depth or details so he still doesnt know immigration policy in detail. He still doesnt know what it would take to actually negotiate getting his wall. He had opportunities to do that and he couldnt do that and part of it is just unfamiliarity with the issues. Well, the president s remarks just today about rape harkening back to comments he made when he launched his campaign. Lets listen to this stuff. When mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre bringing drugs, theyre bringing crime, theyre rapists and some i assume are good people. Ashley, hes back to that. Yeah, he is, i mean, that was sort of the basis i mean, it was as you said, that was how he launched his campaign. It was the basis in part of his rise. Those comments, offensive comments about Barack Obamas birth certificate and when in doubt the president often returns to those read meat lines that really riled up his base. He has a couple metrics for success. One is the stock market but another is remembering what it felt like to stand in front of huge crowds at rallies and get that thundering applause. That was one of his lines so its not surprising to see him returning to something hes comfortable with and gets him adulation from a certain core of supporters. Thats well done. Gene, both you and michael, talk about how much of this is the standup comic or anyone who performs before crowds just wanting to hear that feedback, that roar of approval and how much of it is calculated to get himself reelected . Hell need to be in the high 40s to be elected . He needs the roar of approval. He feeds on that. How much is calculated to get him reelected . He desperately wants to get reelected. He doesnt do calculation in terms of a long range plan or strategy. I think he does see in not in a programmatic way but in a real way i think he sees some of where he has to be politically to get reelected on some level but its not like he has a step by step plan for what to do today, what to do tomorrow, what to do in six months. I think for him its all visceral. Its a gut check, a gut feel. He has an inextricable link to his base supporters as ashley and others who cover this president know. Its intangible in many respects. He senses when they need him. They sense when he needs them and that works, but the broader question you ask as we get ready to go through the 2018 cycle, chris and into 2019 and 2020 is how do you build and grow that . Because republicans right now need not just that base. Theyre going to need the center left, center right voters to come out this november if they want to hold the house and grow a seat or two in the senate and thats got to be the setup for 2020. The president , while he may have this instinctual relationship with his base, he has to grow that instinct for the rest of the country as well because hell need that 48 to get out there. Does he need an Elizabeth Warren or the memory of Hillary Clinton or the pocahontas number of his and all that something his people will have a nasty attitude towards for him to win . He will. But who is that going to be . Theres a short shelf life for an Elizabeth Warren and certainly i dont think theres much left in beating up the Hillary Clinton making that case so theres got to be someone else who steps in and thats why democrats i think at this point, chris, have been holding back not getting out in front of the whole president ial bid because they dont want to be the fall guy, they dont want to be the pincushion for this president at this point. I agree. Smart, because he has to have a foil. He has to have somebody to beat up, thank you eugene robinson, Michael Steele and ashley parker. Coming up, the russia investigation. New reporting about a key cooperating witness in the mueller probe, george nader. Remember him . He helped set up that secret meeting in the seychelles between the russians and a top trump adviser, that sneaky meeting in the indian ocean. Tonight were learning much more about him and his very deep ties guess what to russia . Plus as epa administrator scott pruitt is on the chopping block, it looks like it despite the bad headlines. Hes holding on but trumps recent comments about pruitt arent exactly a vote of confidence. And with republicans facing a potential wipeout this november, Party Leaders are sounding the alarm. Senator Mitch Mcconnell says the party could be in for a category five hurricane at the poll this is november. Is the situation as dire as it seems for republicans . I think so. Finally, let me finish with what i think and how i expect things to end this year. This is hardball, where the action is. Ine, but we know a lot about drama. From scandalous romance, to ridiculous plot twists. gasping son . Dad we also know you can avoid drama by getting an annual checkup. So were partnering with cigna to remind you to go see a real doctor. Go, know, and take control of your health. It could save your life. Doctor poses dad cigna. Together, all the way. Dad birds tweeting this is not a cloud. This is a tomato tracked from farm to table on a blockchain, helping keep shoppers safe. This is a financial Transaction Secure from hacks and threats others cant see. This is a skyscraper whose elevators use iot data and ai to help thousands get to work safely and efficiently. This is not the cloud you know. This is the ibm cloud. The ibm cloud is the cloud for smarter business. Late this afternoon during a gaggle with reporters on air force one, President Trump answered a couple of questions about Stormy Daniels. Lets watch. Did you know about the 130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels . No. Then why what else . Why did Michael Cohen make that payment . Youll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michaels my attorney and youll have to ask michael. Reporter do you know where he got the money to make that payment . No, i dont know. Well be right back. Laura can clean up a retriever that rolled in foxtails, but shes not much on articles of organization. Articles of what . So, she turned to legalzoom. They helped me out. She means we helped with her llc, trademark, and a lot of other legal stuff thats a part of running a business. So laura can get back to the dogs. Would you sit still . This is lauras mobile dog grooming palace and this is where life meets legal. A hilton getaway means you get more because you get a break on breakfast get an extra day by the pool get to spend more time together get more from your spring break getaway with exclusive hilton offers. Book yours, only at hilton. Com im actually closer to my retirement daysing. Than i am my college days. I just want to know, am i gonna be okay . I know people who specialize in am i going to be okay. I like that. You may need glasses though. Schedule a complimentary goal Planning Session with Td Ameritrade. Welcome back to hardball. New reporting today Sheds Additional Light on the collusion part of the russia probe and may explain Robert Muellers interest in a mysterious International Businessman with ties to the middle east. The Developments Center around george nader, a lebaneseamerican adviser to the United Arab Emirates whos cooperating with the special counsel in exchange for immunity. As we reported last month, nader is best known for setting up a key meeting in the remote Indian Ocean Island of the seychelles just before the inauguration in january of 2017. That meeting brought together trump adviser eric prince with a Russian Oligarch reportedly for the purpose of establishing a back channel between the Incoming Trump administration and the kremlin. Well, that same month, nader met at trump tower with steve bannon, jared kushner, and according to the New York Times, a Hedge Fund Manager with business ties to kushner and the uae. The New York Times reports that nader has more previously unreported ties to moscow. Quote, naders dealings with russia date at least to 2012 when he helped broker a con