Trump ready to bawitdaba, push health care bill again

Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, and Kid Rock went to the White House for dinner. Elizabeth Keatinge has more. Buzz60 Only weeks afte...

Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, and Kid Rock went to the White House for dinner. Elizabeth Keatinge has more. Buzz60

Only weeks after Donald Trump's stunning health care defeat, the president seemed optimistic. Trump said on Thursday that he's confident a health care bill will pass eventually amid reports that the White House wants a new vote on the matter as early as next week.

"There was never a give-up," said Trump, who just last month stated that Obamacare would "explode" before he pushed a health care plan again.

GOP leaders, however, seemed doubtful that a new plan would pass. But if Kid Rock and Ted Nugent can meet in the Oval Office with a president who starred in a sex comedy called “Ghosts Can’t Do It,” anything is possible.

Also on Thursday: North Korea threatened a “super-mighty” attack on the U.S., the government faced another shutdown and America found out that, seriously, yes, Trump let someone called “the Nuge” into the White House.

North Korea, undaunted by Mike Pence, threatens to attack U.S.

Vice President Mike Pence is briefed near the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, on April 17, 2017. (Photo: Lee Jin-man, AP)

Well, we did our best. The U.S. put Mike Pence in a very cool jacket and had him stand on a very big boat and tell North Korea that "the sword stands ready" in a very tough tone. And yet, somehow, North Korea seemed undeterred.

orth Korea warned in a news report of a “super-mighty preemptive strike” that would reduce U.S. military forces “to ashes,” telling the nation and its allies to “not mess with us.” It’s the latest in a nuclear-tinged spat between the U.S. and North Korea, which had two recent attempted missile tests.

Remember Gonzalo Curiel, the Indiana-born judge whom Trump claimed was biased because of his “Mexican heritage”? He oversaw a settlement that put Trump on the hook for $25 million over Trump University fraud claims, and now the president's set to confront him again.

Curiel, a U.S. district judge, will handle a lawsuit over Juan Manuel Montes, a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant who was deported in February despite being approved for protective status by the government.

“Curiel's assignment to the case was completely coincidental, according to rules for the Southern District of California,” USA TODAY’s Alan Gomez reported.

A government shutdown looms. Again.

Federal agencies have enough funding to make it through midnight of next Friday, which means Congress will return Monday with only five days to ward off yet another imminent government shutdown. Lawmakers are hustling to reach a bipartisan deal that can provide funding through Sept. 30, but Trump’s not making it easy: His calls to fund a border wall and other hot-button programs could upend an agreement, according to USA TODAY’s Erin Kelly.

Photos surfaced Thursday of a legendary meeting of the minds that occurred in the Oval Office between Donald Trump, Ted Nugent, Sarah Palin and Kid Rock. The gathering apparently arose from a dinner invite by Trump.

It raises a question: Why do Democrats get all the critically acclaimed musicians? Barack Obama had Kendrick Lamar in the White House, a guy who just got a 9.2 rating on Pitchfork. Nugent and Kid Rock are known for albums such as If You Can’t Lick ‘Em … Lick ‘Em and Rock n Roll Jesus, respectively.

“This photo is easily the least dignified thing that has ever happened in the Oval Office,” comedian Patrick Monahan said on Twitter. Others reminded him that was probably not the case.