The Trail 2016: The Big One

by Jonathan Swan - 06/09/16 6:14 PM ET

Welcome to THE TRAIL 2016, your daily rundown from The Hill on all the latest news in the White House, Senate and House races.

The endorsement Hillary Clinton wanted most has finally come. President Barack Obama, her one-time fierce rival for the Democratic nomination, announced Thursday that he was with her.

Following a White House meeting with Bernie Sanders, Obama released a video touting his endorsement.

“I know how hard this job can be. That’s why I know Hillary will be so good at it. In fact, I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office,” Obama said in the video, which was posted on YouTube and the Clinton campaign website.

The video, we are told, was recorded on Tuesday, a day after The Associated Press announced that Clinton had won the delegates necessary to clinch the nomination. But while the video might have been produced only this week, few in Washington doubt that Obama has privately been on Hillary’s side since the day she announced.

Clinton celebrated, saying the president’s endorsement “means so much.”

And even Sanders seems to be getting close to accepting reality. After his meeting with Obama he said he’d speak with his rival, Clinton, about how to fight against Trump. But he still hasn’t dropped out of the presidential race, much less endorsed her, and he sat in awkward silence when quizzed by the press about the Obama’s endorsement.

Stay with TheHill.com on this consequential afternoon in the presidential campaign. Then come back tomorrow and over the weekend for such stories as a dive into Trump’s inner circle, how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is managing the most unmanageable candidate in recent memory and the primary season’s winners and losers.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

WARREN ON THE EDGE: The Hill’s Jessie Hellmann reports: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will endorse presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on Thursday on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.” But Warren reportedly has concerns about being Clinton’s VP.

SOFTENING SANDERS: The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports: Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) praised Bernie Sanders after meeting with him Thursday and predicted he would help unify the Democratic Party ahead of the general election.

ADIOS SEÑOR TRUMP: The Hill’s Rafael Bernal reports: A pro-Hillary Clinton super-PAC is going after Donald Trump’s standing with Latino voters, releasing a series of ads Thursday that compile some of his controversial comments about Hispanics.

CHARACTER ASSASSINATION: The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: Donald Trump will go on the attack against Hillary Clinton in a speech in New Hampshire on Monday that details why he believes the former secretary of State is unfit for office.

NOT THERE YET: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday said that Donald Trump “has a ways to go” to give Republicans a presidential campaign that they can be proud of.

ODDS AND ENDS:

TRADE TENSION: The Hill’s Jonathan Swan reports: Trade policy is emerging as a point of tension between the Bernie Sanders team and the party establishment in the drafting of the Democratic Party platform.

TOP TWEET: The Hill’s Caitlin Yilek reports: Hillary Clinton issued her most-retweeted tweet of campaign to date, according to the Clinton Social Media Director Alex Wall. “Delete your account,” the presumptive Democratic nominee’s account tweeted at Trump, after he posted that “nobody” wanted four more years of Obama.

FRIENDS NO MORE: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough fired back at Donald Trump on Thursday, saying in an interview that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s insecurity has made him “bats— crazy.” Scarborough, the host of Morning Joe, was criticized earlier in the campaign for being too cozy with Trump.

POLL POSITION

UNENVIABLE RECORD: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Donald Trump has hired a new pollster who will focus solely on the billionaire’s home state of New York, according to a new report. In 2014, Republicans warned candidates against hiring John McLaughlin, who incorrectly predicted that former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) was ahead by a large margin shortly before his stunning primary loss to now-Rep. Dave Brat (Va.).

THE DAILY TRUMP

BILLS OUTSTANDING: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Hundreds of workers and contractors have accused Donald Trump of not paying his bills over the years, according to an investigation by USA Today.

MORAL RELATIVISM: The Hill’s Scott Wong reports: Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) gave a forceful defense of Donald Trump on Thursday, calling the presumptive GOP presidential nominee “totally virtuous” compared with Bill and Hillary Clinton.

IRON DONALD: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Donald Trump lauded Israel’s security as of “paramount importance” as he condemned Wednesday’s shootings in Tel Aviv as a “terrorist” attack. Rival Hillary Clinton condemned the attacks on Wednesday.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“He is going to be revising, reviewing and maybe trying to modify the Iran deal.”

— Donald Trump’s foreign policy adviser Walid Phares told The Wall Street Journal

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

TELL US WHAT YOU REALLY THINK: Buzzfeed reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) this week, saying they had an “outstanding” record of defeat in elections. McConnell compared running with the SCF, a group that often backs grassroots Republicans in primary races, to buying a ticket on the Titanic.

NOT SO JOLLY: Politico reports: Under intense local, state and national pressure, U.S. Rep. David Jolly is considering whether to drop his bid for U.S. Senate and run for reelection against former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, the former Republican turned Independent, turned Democrat.

RAND’S STAND: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is throwing his weight behind retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness in Louisiana’s crowded race for Senate.

MONEY WATCH

FED UP: The Associated Press reports: Billionaire Charles Koch, one of America’s most influential conservative donors, said he is fed up with the vitriol of the presidential race and will air national TV ads that call on citizens to work together to fix a “rigged” economy that leaves behind the poor.

JOYFUL FUNDRAISING: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: President Obama is reassuring Democratic donors about the upcoming election season, saying “this is going to be fun.”

BOSTON BASH: The Boston Herald reports: Donald Trump will host a high-priced fundraiser in Boston on Monday as his controversy-wracked campaign prepares to do battle with freshly minted Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY, TOMORROW AND THE WEEKEND:

(All times Eastern)

Bernie Sanders holds a 7 p.m. rally today at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Warren will endorse Hillary Clinton on the Rachel Maddow show tonight at 9 on MSNBC. On Friday, she will speak at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s membership event in Washington, D.C.

Donald Trump holds an 8 p.m. rally in Richmond, Va., on Friday. On Saturday, he holds an 11 a.m. rally in Tampa and a 3 p.m. rally in Pittsburgh.

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld will be guests on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS at 11:35 p.m. today.

TWEET OF THE DAY