High-dollar donors At two Hamptons

campaign events, President Tr ump is again

set to embrace the wealthy contributors he

once railed against. A

Virginia makes a change A Confederate

monument at Fort Monroe no longer bears

the name of Jefferson Davis. B

FOOD

Leave the oven off

Make an icebox cake, the

coolest no-bake dessert.

STYLE

Life as a Kennedy

Saoirse Kennedy Hill was

one of many carrying the

storied family’s legacy. C

In the news

THE NATION

Jon Huntsman , the

U.S. ambassador to

Russia, filed his resigna­

tion and cited the “his­

torically difficult” time

in bilateral relations. A

A federal watchdog

challenged the Trump

administration’s author­

ity to relocate two

USDA agencies. A

The Boy Scouts failed

to stop hundreds of pre­

viously unreported sex­

ual predators, a lawsuit

alleged. A

THE WORLD

The U.S. government

warned Russia and Chi­

na that supporting Ven­

ezuela’s president would

spur penalties. A

Pakistan reacted with

shock after India ended

autonomous rights in

Kashmir. A

THE REGION

The Trump administra­

tion wants to bring

more unaccompanied

minors to Northern Vir­

ginia and elsewhere. B

Plans for a D.C. half­

way house for men are

unsettled even as the

current facility is sched­

uled to close soon. B

STYLE

Metro reversed its de­

cision to reject ads for

an art exhibition on the

migrant crisis. C

BUSINESS NEWS ........................ A

COMICS ........................................C

OPINION PAGES..........................A

LOTTERIES ................................... B

OBITUARIES ................................. B

TELEVISION..................................C

WORLD NEWS.............................A

DAILY CODE, DETAILS, B

2356

CONTENT © 2019

The Washington Post / Year 142, No. 245

ABCDE

Prices may vary in areas outside metropolitan Washington. SU V1 V2 V3 V

Strong t-storms 91/71 • Tomorrow: Mostly sunny 90/74 B8 Democracy Dies in Darkness WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7 , 2019. $

BY DAMIAN PALETTA

President Trump is increasing-
ly acting based on his own intu-
ition and analysis and not the
advice of aides in the fraught
trade war with China, five people
briefed on the actions said, shat-
tering a more cautious process
that had yielded few positive
results so far.
The Treasury Department’s
formal announcement that it had
labeled China a “currency m anip-
ulator” Monday came six hours
after President Trump did it him-
self, on social media, the latest
example of how Trump is deter-
mining his own next steps. The
people describing the White
House process spoke on the con-
dition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to speak
publicly.
On Tuesday, Trump’s senior
advisers still floated the possibili-
ty that the White House could
scale back some of its economic
penalties against China if leaders
in Beijing offer tangible conces-
sions.
“A s difficult as things may be,
and I know the markets are bit
volatile, the reality is we would
like to negotiate,” White House
National Economic Council Di-
rector Larry Kudlow said on
CNBC. His comments came the
same day that Chinese leaders
moved t o stabilize their currency,
a move that calmed investors
after a sharp sell-off Monday.
The respite may not continue
much longer. A number of White
House officials say they now
expect a drawn-out battle with
Chinese leaders, as the on-again,
off-again trade negotiations that
began in December have shown
little sign of progress.
Trump is convinced that the
Chinese economy is suffering
more than the U.S. economy from
the conflict and that leaders will
eventually back down. And he
has felt validated that his hard-
SEE TRADE ON A

Trump faces rising anger over mass shootings

JAHI CHIKWENDIU/THE WASHINGTON POST

Metal fabricator Nick Bruno, left, works with Kyle Knox, James Bunn and Jason Phillips, behind the display, to hang a “Dayton Strong”

sign on the front of Ned Peppers Bar near where a gunman fatally shot nine people early Sunday morning in Dayton, Ohio.

GRIEVING CITIES

SPURN HIS OUTREACH

Fresh calls are raised

for stricter gun control

BY BETH REINHARD

Fresh calls for gun control fol-

lowing massacres in two U.S. cit-

ies over the weekend are testing

the resilience of the National Ri-

fle Association a t a time when the

nation’s l argest gun lobby is riven

by leadership clashes and allega-

tions o f reckless s pending.

The NRA, which has blocked

proposed restrictions after past

mass shootings, including at S an-

dy Hook Elementary School in

Newtown, Conn., h as lost key vet-

erans in recent m onths, i ncluding

lobbyist Christopher Cox, who

back-channeled with the White

House and lawmakers during

previous political crises.

The NRA’s longtime advertis-

ing firm, which helped craft its

hard-edge responses to past gun

violence, is battling the organiza-

tion in court. Last week, three

NRA board members resigned,

saying they were sidelined after

demanding audits of the organi-

zation’s spending. Rank-and-file

members are urging chang-

es, while other gun-rights groups

are seeking to capitalize on the

NRA’s struggles.

The dissent surfaced on To m

Gresham’s syndicated radio

show, “Gun Ta lk,” over the week-

end after the back-to-back shoot-

ings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio.

“Something’s gone wrong

there,” a caller from Tulsa said

Sunday afternoon. The NRA “will

SEE NRA ON A

BY KEVIN SULLIVAN,

VALERIE STRAUSS

AND EMILY DAVIES

Connor Betts, 24, who shot and

killed nine people in Dayton,

Ohio, before police killed him,

was a deeply troubled young

man. He had a history of violence

against girlfriends and fanta-

sized about murder, keeping a

“hit list” of people he wanted to

target.

High school classmates said

that school officials were aware of

his behavior years ago, and that

as a freshman, he was missing

from school for months after po-

lice one day took him from a

school bus.

Details of his past are still

emerging, and school officials did

not respond on Tuesday to ques-

tions about his disciplinary rec-

ord during his school years. Fed-

eral authorities said they are in-

vestigating last weekend’s shoot-

ing as a potential domestic

terrorism case because it is possi-

ble “violent ideologies” were be-

hind the attack.

Such mass shootings at the

hands of disaffected young men

— including an attack just hours

earlier in El Paso, where a 21-year-

old is accused of killing 22 people

on Saturday — illustrate the diffi-

culties of tracking people who

have made dangerous threats.

President Trump and Republi-

can leaders have made “red flags”

SEE THREATS ON A

BY FAIZ SIDDIQUI

san francisco — Cristina
Vasquez Muñiz felt uncomfort-
able when a Lyft driver asked for
her phone number during a ride.
Not wanting the situation to esca-
late, she obliged.
But when she went on to report
what she thought was unprofes-
sional behavior to the ride-hail-
ing company, she was floored by
its response.
“You have every right to not
give your number out to anyone,
but the fact that you did limits the
consequences on the driver,” t he
company wrote, according to an
email of the interaction.
Muñiz, 24, of Brighton, Mass.,
described her reaction bluntly: “I
didn’t e xpect to be blamed for the

situation.”

Lyft h as risen to prominence —

including raising billions of dol-

lars by going public this year — i n

large part by touting a “woke”

image. Part o f its success has been

drawing a contrast with rival

Uber, which lost waves of cus-

tomers after accusations of fos-

tering a “tech bro” culture that

enabled misconduct. But now

Lyft’s reputation is increasingly

under fire from women who say

the company often falls short

when faced with allegations of

sexual harassment by drivers.

In interviews, nearly a dozen

women from across the country

described Lyft’s response to alle-

gations of sexual harassment as

tone-deaf and inadequate, espe-

cially for the app that tries to

differentiate itself as more pro-

gressive than Uber. Dozens of

other women have recounted

similar experiences on social me-

SEE LYFT ON A

BY EMILY LANGER

To ni Morrison, the Nobel

Prize-winning novelist who con-

jured a black girl longing for blue

eyes, a slave mother who kills her

child to save her from bondage

and other indelible characters

who helped transfigure a literary

canon long closed to African

Americans, died Aug. 5 at a hospi-

tal in the Bronx. She was 88.

Paul Bogaards, a spokesman

for the publishing company Al-

fred A. Knopf, announced the

death and said the cause was

complications from pneumonia.

Ms. Morrison spent an impov-

erished childhood in Ohio steel

country, began writing during

what she described as stolen time

as a single mother and became

the first black woman to receive

the Nobel Prize in literature. Crit-

ically acclaimed and widely

loved, she received recognitions

as diverse as the Pulitzer Prize

SEE MORRISON ON A

Impulsive

acts propel

trade war

with China

Seeing little benefit from

caution, Trump leads,

and aides try to keep up

Massacres are testing

a deeply divided NRA

Years before tragedies,

‘red flags’ often ignored

How Lyft lost the trust

of women who left Uber

TONI MORRISON 1931-

Nobel laureate transfigured American literature

NIKKI KAHN/THE WASHINGTON POST

Toni Morrison, shown in 2008, was raised in Ohio steel country before moving to Washington

to attend Howard University. Her acclaimed novels included “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved.”

Ride-hailing app says it’s

a progressive alternative,

but some say it falls short

‘Stop the bleeding’: Te xas

hospital fought to save victims. A

Support: Many of Tr ump’s Latino

backers in El Paso stay by him. A

The victims: Learn about the

people who died in El Paso. A

Appreciation: Like Shakespeare

or Twain, she transcends death. C

@PKCapitol: The Senate is highly

unlikely to pass gun bills. A

Economic unease: The U.S.-China
escalation spurs dire warnings. A

Congestion: New study shows

Uber and Ly ft’s impact on traffic. B

BY TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA,

ARELIS R. HERNÁNDEZ,

JOHN WAGNER

AND TIM CRAIG

The grief and sorrow in Day-

ton, Ohio, and El Paso have begun

to give way to anger and frustra-

tion in advance of President

Trump’s planned visits Wednes-

day, with local leaders and resi-

dents increasingly vocal in their

assertions that presidential con-

dolences, thoughts and prayers

will not be enough.

People are signing petitions,

planning protests and, in Dayton,

organizing a demonstration fea-

turing an inflated “Baby Trump”

to express their discontent with a

president whose anti-immigrant

rhetoric was echoed by a gunman

who killed 22 people in El Paso.

And while the motive of the man

who killed nine people in Dayton

remains unclear, Trump’s silence

on the issue of guns has been

criticized by local officials who

want action to prevent future

massacres.

“He’s made this bed and he’s

got to lie in it. His rhetoric has

been painful for many in our

community,” Dayton Mayor Nan

Whaley (D) told reporters Tues-

day, adding that she supported

the planned protests against

Trump. “Watching the president

for the past few years over the

issue of guns, I don’t think he

knows what he believes, frankly.”

The open repudiation of a visit-

ing president in the aftermath of

a mass tragedy was striking Tues-

day as a growing chorus of critics

made clear that Trump would not

be universally welcome during a

pair of condolence visits that will

take Air Force One from the Rust

Belt to the southern border.

“Dayton has been through

enough, and we don’t want him

here or his hateful rhetoric,” s aid

SEE SHOOTINGS ON A