What's happening in the political world:
Trump says U.S. can solve N. Korea "problem" without China's help
-- The president took to Twitter Tuesday morning with the following takes on North Korea and how China can get involved:
I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2017
North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2017
Trump's tweets come after the North Korean government threatened to counter any U.S. decision that follows an order that sent the USS Carl Vinson and other ships to the waters off the Korean Peninsula.
"We will hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions," a spokesman for the North Korea Foreign Ministry.
Tillerson critical of Russia ahead of Moscow visit
-- Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, but he preceeded his visit with comments critical of Russia and their relationship with Syria.
Tillerson said Russia failed to uphold commitments it has made to guarantee the elimination of the Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, and had not made enough progress in peace talks.
Russia, the Assad regime's main ally, has denounced the missile strikes carried out by the U.S. on a Syrian airbase last week.
U.S. allies do not reach agreement on new Syria, Russia sanctions
-- Leading U.S. allies failed to reach agreement on new sanctions on Syria and Russia in the wake of a chemical attack that killed more than 80 people.
A meeting of G7 foreign ministers rejected a British plan to impose targeted sanctions on military personnel in Russia and Syria who had been "contaminated by the appalling actions of the Assad regime."
Instead, the plan was shelved until after the results of an investigation into the attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun last week, which prompted the U.S. to launch a barrage of missiles on a Syrian airbase on Friday.
Trump's first-year travel costs could surpass Obama travel spending
-- Donald Trump's travel to his private club in Florida has cost over an estimated $20 million in his first 80 days as president, putting the president on pace in his first year of office to surpass former President Barack Obama's spending on travel for his entire eight years.
Given variations in each trip, estimating the security costs around a presidential trip is difficult. But a 2016 Government Accountability Office report about a four-day trip Obama took to Florida in 2013 -- one similar to Trump's trips -- found the total cost to the Secret Service and Coast Guard was $3.6 million.
To date, Trump has spent six weekends -- and a total of 21 days -- at Mar-A-Lago, his private Palm Beach club. The total estimated costs for those trips are around $21.6 million.
Obama, by contrast, spent just under $97 million on travel in his eight years as president, according to documents reviewed by Judicial Watch, a conservative government watchdog.
CNN contributed to this report
