Happy Monday. President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Monday morning to declare that his political base is “bigger & stronger than ever before” despite the fact that polls show the contrary. Those polls, Trump added, are ”fake.” [WaPost]
Topping the news: Former state Sen. Steve Urquhart took to Facebook on Friday to criticize the LDS Church’s lobbying methods. [Trib]
-> After working as chief of staff of the Utah state Senate for 14 years, Ric Cantrell is leaving his position for the same role in the attorney general’s office. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Alex Cragun was named executive director of the Utah Democratic Party on Friday — just two weeks after he was appointed to the UTA board. [Trib] [DNews]
Tweets of the day: From @juliaritchey: “Interestingly, Chaffetz is no longer a fan of congressional checks and balances on POTUS. *thinking emoji*”
-> From @gopTODD: “America to Hillary: 2000: You don’t have any experience 2008: It’s not you, we just LOVE him 2016: Actually, its you”
-> From @Patbagley: “Trump ‘working vacation‘ is when he loses the remote and has to yell for Gen Kelly to find it”
-> From @KenJennings: “To be president, you should have to be able to take care of an egg with the US painted on it for a week.”
Happy Birthday: To Daryn Frischknecht, communications director for Rep. Chris Stewart.
Weekend in review: Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams went undercover for three days and two nights in April to get a taste of what it’s like to be homeless in Salt Lake City. [Trib] [DNews] [APviaKUTV]
-> Utah leaders working on “Operation Rio Grande” are still hashing out some of the details of their plain, but all parties involved agree speed is of the essence. [Trib]
-> The state Legislature voted to allow needle exchange programs for drug addicts, but now some officials are turning against the measure. [Trib]
-> A new report by the Tax Foundation ranks Utah No. 28 in the country for cost of living. [Trib]
-> Salt Lake County Councilman Max Burdick wants to leave his position to be the interim county recorder. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Robert Gehrke argues that President Donald Trump is deepening Utah’s partisan divide. [Trib]
Nationally: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Sunday that investigations into leaks won’t target reporters. [NYTimes] [APviaWaPost] [Politico]
-> Since President Donald Trump took office, the Justice Department has tripled the number of probes into government leaks, according to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. [NYTimes] [WaPost] [Politico]
-> Trump is taking a 17-day “working vacation” at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, while the White House undergoes renovations. [NYTimes] [WaPost] [Politico]
Where are they?
Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox participates in Operation Rio Grande discussions.
State Auditor John Dougall spends time in his office and takes a lunch meeting.
Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven’t already, sign up for our weekday email and get this sent directly to your inbox. [Trib]
-- Thomas Burr and Emily Anderson
Twitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/emilyinorgandy