Newsletter: Today: A Yankee in King Salman’s Court

President Trump outlined a “battle between good and evil” in his speech to Arab and Muslim leaders on the fight against extremism. I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

A Yankee in King Salman’s Court

As investigations swirl in Washington, President Trump spent the weekend as a Yankee in King Salman’s court. In Saudi Arabia, he got a gold medal, did a sword dance and placed his hand on a glowing globe at the opening of a center to combat extremist ideology. In between, he and the king signed off on a $110-billion package of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and investments in the U.S. economy. But the big news Sunday was Trump’s speech on Islam, in which he told Arab and Muslim leaders the U.S. seeks “partners, not perfection” to fight extremism and terrorism. “We are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship,” he said. That broke not only from Barack Obama’s and George W. Bush’s policies to foster human rights, but it also steered far away from Trump’s “Islam hates us” campaign rhetoric. The reaction: mixed.

More Politics

-- Trump arrives in Israel today, where some officials are anxious about how much he might give away if he can restart long-stalled peace talks with Palestinians.

-- A battle of liberal versus more liberal has exposed a divided California Democratic Party at the state convention over the weekend.

Will Trump Make the Grade at Historically Black Colleges?

With graduation season upon us, the Trump administration’s record with commencement speeches has room for improvement. Dozens of grads and their families at Notre Dame walked out on Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was booed at Bethune-Cookman University earlier this month. The latter incident took on added significance, given the delicate state of relations between historically black colleges and universities and President Trump, who has pledged “unwavering support” for them. Despite students’ misgivings, some African American educators say they’re pleasantly surprised with what they’re hearing.

A Dying Mother’s Desperate Choice

When Lai Hang of Rosemead got her cancer prognosis in 2015, she learned she had four months to live — and she was deeply concerned about what would happen with her 17-year-old son, George, after she died. She said he was seoi zai — Cantonese for “wicked child.” That’s when she bought a gun.

They Don’t Call It the ‘High Desert’ for Nothing

The city of Adelanto in California’s high desert near Victorville is only 53 square miles, but as Mayor Richard Kerr puts it, it hopes to be the “Silicon Valley of medical marijuana.” It’s attracting investors, even if some don’t have a background in the cannabis business. As California moves toward issuing permits for large-scale medical marijuana cultivation next year, is long-struggling Adelanto on the verge of hitting the jackpot, or will its dreams go up in smoke?

An Odd Reprise for the King of Afrobeat

Throughout his life and his music, Fela Kuti brought a message of power to the people. You can hear it in his Afrobeat jams and see it in the Broadway show “Fela!,” which shows his rise as a creative and political force against the ruling class in Nigeria. Twenty years after his death, though, who bought tickets to see a bare-bones version of that musical in Lagos? The elite, of course.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

-- What’s the greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history? We asked the experts.

-- Columnist Steve Lopez says Trump may hate California, but he’s not shy about asking its residents for donations.

-- Hollywood is “out of touch”: Three Southerners discuss media and politics.

-- After years of silence, activists are forcing music festivals to take sexual assault as a serious problem.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- How a remote California tribe set out to save its river and stop a suicide epidemic.

-- Palmyra offers a window into life under the thumb of Islamic State militants.

-- Felicity Huffman goes in-depth on her character Jeanette in the show “American Crime.”

CALIFORNIA

-- California will probably roll out a limited public earthquake early-warning system sometime next year, researchers building the network say.

-- Twenty-five years later, the last unidentified victim of the 1992 L.A. riots has a name.

-- How L.A.’s school board election became the most expensive in U.S. history.

-- A humpback whale that became stuck in Ventura Harbor this weekend found its way back to the ocean.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- U2 performed its landmark 1987 album, “The Joshua Tree,” from beginning to end at the Rose Bowl. Here’s what worked and what didn’t.

-- Get an early look at what broadcast TV shows are coming in the 2017-18 season, what’s coming back and what’s getting the ax.

-- Times film critic Justin Chang is keeping a diary of the Cannes Film Festival. One entry: “How I survived the two longest films in the Palme d’Or race … and liked them.”

-- Two five-time “Saturday Night Live” hosts on the same ticket? Dwayne Johnson announced his 2020 candidacy, with running mate Tom Hanks.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Laurence Olivier was called the greatest actor of his time, but he kept a sense of perspective: “When you think about it, what is acting but lying? When I was small I lied all the time…. I like to think I was just practicing my profession. But really I was just being a bloody liar.” He was born on this date in 1907.

NATION-WORLD

-- A transgender “bathroom bill” reminiscent of one in North Carolina now appears to be on a fast-track to becoming law in Texas, though it may only apply to public schools.

-- North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile over the weekend, U.S. and South Korean officials said, the most recent in a flurry of ballistic tests.

-- Three climbers have died on Mt. Everest and another is missing in a tragic weekend on the world’s highest mountain.

-- Protesters turned out by the thousands in heavy rain to demand the impeachment of Brazilian President Michel Temer.

BUSINESS

-- Columnist Michael Hiltzik writes that the entire healthcare industry is panicking that Trump will blow up Obamacare today.

-- Cutting the cord on TV doesn’t necessarily mean cutting the cost.

SPORTS

-- Tommy Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers to their most recent World Series championship in 1988, has been hospitalized for an undisclosed ailment.

-- The Anaheim Ducks are going shorthanded into a must-win Game 6 against Nashville tonight.

OPINION

-- Dear LAPD: You are not exempt from the Public Records Act, writes a lawyer.

-- The ludicrous plan to pump Mojave water to L.A.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- The Chinese government reportedly killed or imprisoned nearly two dozen CIA sources from 2010 through 2012. (New York Times)

-- The last Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey ringmaster gives a glimpse of his life. (NPR)

-- A graph of all the sweater colors Mister Rogers wore from 1979 to 2001. (The Awl)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Melvyn’s Restaurant & Lounge in Palm Springs is proudly old school. The men’s bathroom still has a pay phone. The chef has been running the kitchen for 38 years — and compared with some other employees, he’s a greenhorn. And the maitre d’, who’s been there 42 years, says: “The average age of our customer is dead.”

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

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