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VOL. CLXVII ... No. 57,917 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018 $3.00 Tabloid Mogul U.S. SET TO BLUNT Visited Trump POLLUTION RULES To Woo Saudis FOR AUTOMAKERS A Longtime Protector Flaunts a Friendship OBAMA-ERA STANDARDS

This article is by Jim Rutenberg, Kate Kelly, Jessica Silver-Green- Changes Would Hearten berg and Mike McIntire. Carmakers, but Lead In July, David J. Pecker, the chairman of the company that to California Fight owns The National Enquirer, vis- ited his old friend President Trump at the White House. By CORAL DAVENPORT The tabloid publisher took and HIROKO TABUCHI along a special guest, Kacy Grine, The Trump administration is a French businessman who ad- expected to kick off an effort in vises one of Saudi Arabia’s richest coming days to weaken green- men and sometimes acts as an in- house gas emissions and fuel termediary between Saudi Crown economy standards for automo- Prince Mohammed bin Salman biles, handing a victory to car and Western businesses. manufacturers and giving them The two men and other Pecker ammunition potentially to roll associates chatted with the presi- back industry standards world- dent in the Oval Office and briefly wide. met with Mr. Trump’s son-in-law The move, which undercuts one and Middle East envoy, Jared of President Barack Obama’s sig- Kushner. Before moving on to din- nature efforts to fight climate ner with the group, the president change, would also propel the had a photographer snap pictures Trump administration toward a CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS of the guests standing with him After scores died in a riot and fire in a jail at a police station in Valencia, Venezuela, inmates’ relatives awaited word on loved ones. courtroom clash with California, behind his desk. which has vowed to stick with the Mr. Pecker has long used his stricter rules even if Washington media empire to protect Mr. rolls back federal standards. That Trump’s image. During the 2016 fight could end up creating one set Crisis Deepens 68 Die in Jail Fire. Then Police Attack Bereaved. presidential campaign, Mr. Peck- of rules for cars sold in California er’s company, American Media and the 12 states that follow its Inc., suppressed the story of a for- Grocery stores are short of food lead, and weaker rules for the rest mer Playboy model who claimed As the Kremlin and hospitals are bereft of sup- of the states, in effect splitting the By ANA VANESSA HERRERO In Venezuela, Tear Gas to have had an affair with Mr. and NICHOLAS CASEY plies as the country’s economic Bucks the West Is Used on Victims’ meltdown hastens. President Trump. VALENCIA, Venezuela — It be- Nicolás Maduro marches toward The night of the dinner, Mr. gan as a jailhouse party. It ended autocracy, isolating his country Pecker got something from Mr. in carnage. Loved Ones Trump: an unofficial seal of ap- By ANDREW HIGGINS from humanitarian aid and keep- On Thursday, grieving families ing opponents in jail ahead of a proval from the White House. MOSCOW — Russia on Thurs- collected their dead after one of presidential election in May. Hun- It was an opportune moment day escalated a confrontation the worst prison fires in the coun- tives who had come were sprayed dreds of thousands of people have for Mr. Pecker to showcase his with Europe and the United States try’s history claimed the lives of with tear gas by security forces fled the country, seeking lives in White House connections. He was over the poisoning of a former 68 people. The relatives searched who tried to disperse them. lands where there is more hope. considering expanding his media Russian spy in Britain, saying it for answers, but also offered a “I’ve been living here 55 years, Yet the fire underlined the fate and events businesses into Saudi would expel 60 American diplo- chilling account of what they had and it’s the first time I’ve seen of a group for whom escape was Arabia and also was hunting for mats and an unspecified number learned so far: The fire began af- something like this,” said María, never possible: The tens of thou- moneyed partners in acquisitions. of envoys from other countries to ter gangs running a party in an whose home is near the prison, sands of Venezuelan prisoners ne- The intersection of the tabloid retaliate for a mass expulsion of overcrowded jail fought with the and who refused to give her last glected in overcrowded cells by publisher with the Saudis, en- Russian diplomats working in the hanced by the White House visit, TOM BRENNER/THE NEW YORK TIMES guards. A hostage was taken; a name for fear of reprisals by the the very government charged Scott Pruitt of the E.P.A. West and beyond that was or- fire broke out. police for describing the tear-gas- with their custody. is a previously untold chapter in the long, symbiotic relationship dered this week. Dozens perished in the smoke sing. “Put in the wider context, this between the president and Mr. Furious at what it described as and flames, screaming for help. The scenes were shocking, even country has gone broke,” said nation into two markets. Pecker, which was forged in the an anti-Russian campaign orches- Yet the pain didn’t end there. in Venezuela, where tragedy has Jeremy McDermott, the co- Scott Pruitt, the head of the En- 1990s. At the time, Mr. Trump was trated by Washington and Lon- Witnesses said that grieving rela- become the norm. Continued on Page A10 vironmental Protection Agency, is don, the Kremlin exceeded an celebrating a real estate come- expected to frame the initiative as equivalent response to the United back after his casino bankruptcies eliminating a regulatory burden States and ordered the closing of and was both the subject and the on automakers that will result in the American Consulate in St. Pe- source of much gossip in New more affordable trucks, vans and tersburg, Russia’s second-largest York. sport utility vehicles for buyers, city. The consulate is bigger and Mr. Pecker, who had known Mr. according to people familiar with far more important to relations Grine only for a few months, invit- the plan. than the Russian Consulate in Se- ed him to the dinner to thank him An E.P.A. spokeswoman con- attle, which the Trump adminis- for advice he had provided about firmed that Mr. Pruitt had sent a tration ordered closed on Monday investing in the Middle East, ac- draft of the 16-page plan to the as part of its expulsion decree. cording to someone who knew of White House for approval. The crisis over the March 4 poi- the invitation. The particulars of the plan are soning of a former Russian double Word soon traveled back to still being worked out. Those spe- agent and his daughter has driven Saudi Arabia about the dinner: It cifics, which are expected this tensions between the Kremlin and signaled Mr. Pecker’s powerful year, could substantially roll back the West to their highest pitch in status in Washington. the Obama-era standards, accord- decades and forced European Two months later, he was in ing to two people familiar with the countries like Germany that are Saudi Arabia, meeting with Mr. deliberations. usually wary of clashing with Grine and the crown prince about “This is certainly a big deal,” Moscow to choose sides. Britain business opportunities there, ac- said Robert Stavins, director of contends that the poison used was cording to A.M.I. the Harvard environmental eco- a signature Russian nerve agent And by January, Mr. Pecker was nomics program. “The result will created by Soviet-era scientists. confident enough about his grow- be more gas-guzzling vehicles on Voicing alarm that the East- ing rapport with Saudi investors the road, greater total gasoline West confrontation was spinning Continued on Page A14 Continued on Page A15 out of control, the secretary gen- eral of the United Nations, An- tónio Guterres, said that the crisis recalled the Cold War, only with- out the controls and channels of In President’s Tirade on Amazon, communication established be- fore the 1991 collapse of the Soviet The Rage Might Be for the C.E.O. Union “to make sure things would not get out of control when ten- TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES sions rise.” The intensifying crisis has also Make That 1-0 This article is by Michael D. States Postal Service as its “Deliv- Shear, Nick Wingfield and Cecilia ery Boy.” Continued on Page A6 The Mets won their opener at Citi Field on Thursday, and the Yankees won in Toronto. Page B8. Kang. The president has lashed out WASHINGTON — President publicly against the giant com- Trump escalated his attack on pany and its chief executive, Jeff Amazon on Thursday, saying in an Bezos, on Twitter more than a doz- Network Rediscovers Trump Country With Reboot of ‘Roseanne’ early-morning Twitter post that en times since 2015. And privately, the online retail behemoth does people close to him said, Mr. said, ‘There’s a lot about this coun- ing Company. By the meeting’s executives had hoped: The pre- not pay enough taxes — and Trump repeatedly brings up his By JOHN KOBLIN try we need to learn a lot more end, they had in place the begin- miere of “Roseanne” had the high- strongly suggesting that he may disdain for the company, often set and MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM about, here on the coasts,’” Ben nings of a revised strategy that led est ratings for any network sitcom use the power of his office to rein off by his anger at negative stories in The Washington Post, which is On the morning after the 2016 Sherwood, the president of Dis- the network to reboot a past hit in almost four years. in the nation’s largest e-commerce owned by Mr. Bezos. election, a group of nearly a dozen ney and ABC’s television group, centered on a struggling Mid- The show’s approach to socio- business. ABC executives gathered at their said in an interview. western family, a show that had a political issues — its star and co- Mr. Trump accused Amazon, By focusing on the threat to Burbank, Calif., headquarters to They began asking themselves chance to appeal to the voters who creator, Roseanne Barr, plays an one of the country’s most recog- small businesses, Mr. Trump has determine what Donald J. which audiences they were not had helped put Mr. Trump in the unabashed Trump supporter who nizable and successful brands, of touched on the unease of Ama- Trump’s victory meant for the net- serving well and what they could White House. spars with her liberal sister, putting thousands of local retail- zon’s disruptive force. The com- work’s future. do to better live up to the company On Tuesday night, the strategy played by Laurie Metcalf — espe- ers out of business and said the pany has changed industries as “We looked at each other and name — the American Broadcast- proved more successful than the Continued on Page A15 company was using the United Continued on Page A16

BUSINESS DAY B1-7 INTERNATIONAL A4-10 NATIONAL A12-16 SPORTSFRIDAY B8-14 Intercepting Racist Clothing India Spurns Dalai Lama Cosby Judge Won’t Step Down A Cinderella’s Civil Rights Win Fast-fashion giants like With tense meetings ahead with Bei- Bill Cosby’s lawyers had argued the Decades before Loyola-Chicago’s rise H&M and Zara are jing, Indian officials are avoiding a rally judge was biased because his wife aids this year, its integrated team notched a hiring diversity put on by the Dalai Lama thanking sexual assault victims. PAGE A16 victory against segregation. PAGE B13 managers and India for hosting his exile. PAGE A4 using technology No Losses and No Apologies NEW YORK A18-21 to catch offen- Korean Summit Talks Are Set WEEKEND ARTS C1-20 The dominant University of Connecticut sive designs Suit for Immigrants Advances has something to prove: It’s good for The leaders of North and South Korea I Spy. You Can Too. before they will hold a meeting on April 27 at the Citing the president’s “racial slurs,” a women’s basketball. PAGE B8 reach shop- so-called truce village of Panmunjom, judge allows a lawsuit to protect a pro- What kind of secret agent would you pers. PAGE B1 officials said. PAGE A8 gram for young immigrants. PAGE A18 make? Spyscape, a new museum in EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23 New York, will test your skills. PAGE C11 Facebook Falls From Grace Sisi Wins Vote. It’s No Contest. Comeback Worries Democrats David J. Shulkin PAGE A23 Just a couple of months ago shares of With no serious opposition, President Joseph P. Ganim, an ex-convict who Sally Mann’s Haunted South the social network were “priced for Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was headed for a was re-elected mayor of Bridgeport, is The photographer’s work now on display perfection.” A lot has changed since landslide victory with 92 percent of the running for governor of Connecticut, as in Washington offers a journey into her then, writes James B. Stewart. PAGE B1 vote in Egypt’s election. PAGE A10 fellow Democrats fret. PAGE A18 past and the nation’s history. PAGE C11 U(D54G1D)y+#!@!,!#!{