Trump holds President's National Council for the American Worker meeting

President Trump is expected to speak at what the White House is describing as the inaugural meeting of the President’s National Council for the American Worker on Monday. The president praised the efforts of first responders after Hurricane Florence lashed out at the East Coast. 

“Will not rest until that job is done and done perfectly,” the president said, according to the White House press pool. “… It’s  a very dangerous situation. You have collapses. You have slides. Its very scary.”

The council was formed to develop a national workforce strategy to help students and workers have access to the job education and job training they need to compete in the global economy. 

Mr. Trump has yet to publicly comment on a claim from Palo Alto University professor Christine Ford alleging that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party when the two were both in high school. Ford has expressed a willingness to speak to the committee, as has Kavanaugh. 

Some Republicans have suggested they want to hear from Ford before moving forward with a scheduled Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Thursday. But so far, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has yet to say he’s even considering delaying the vote. Grassley did say he’s looking to schedule follow-up calls with Ford and Kavanaugh. All 10 Democrats on the committee signed a letter urging Grassley to delay the vote. 

Kavanaugh has flatly denied the accusation. 

“This is a completely false allegation,” Kavanaugh said in a statement Monday morning. “I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday. I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity.”

On another topic entirely, the public is waiting to see whether Mr. Trump will announce a new round of tariffs on Chinese goods. 

“The president has suggested tariffs on a couple $100 billion” in Chinese goods, Kudlow said on CNBC Monday. “He has not been satisfied with the talks with China on this. My guess is that an announcement will be coming soon.”