“Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao returned to the United States from China this week after her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell, was hospitalized on June 14,” USA Today reports. “Chao’s travel during McConnell’s hospitalization fueled unfounded conspiracy theories online.” Said a spokesperson: “The secretary was on a long-planned trip in China to support her family’s […]

Punchbowl News: “Senate GOP leaders are about to launch into a four-week summer rush to confirm Trump’s nominees in what could finally be a productive stretch for Senate Majority Leader John Thune.” “Next week alone, there are multiple Senate confirmation hearings for major executive branch roles, including three potential new members of Trump’s Cabinet. Their […]

President Trump’s recent stock-trading frenzy was triggered by a court’s reversal of New York Attorney General Letitia James’s $500 million judgment against him, the Wall Street Journal reports. Off the hook for that penalty, Trump quickly began investing the $175 million he had sitting in a Schwab account as collateral. Within days, he was buying […]

“‘Iran has never won a war and never lost a negotiation,’ tweeted Donald Trump in 2020. He had just ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Al Quds,” the Financial Times reports. “Now it seems like Trump has forgotten his aphorism. Six years later, Iran has survived the recent war with America and […]

Graham Platner appears determined to make his exit from politics as self-indulgent as his entrance. The scandal-plagued Maine Senate candidate announced Wednesday night that he would end his campaign after reports that he allegedly sexually assaulted a former girlfriend. Join now to continue reading. Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more. […]

“Abdul El-Sayed looks like he would rather be anywhere else,” Time reports. “The Michigan Senate candidate makes no effort to greet the corporate executives, lobbyists, and consultants drifting around him on Mackinac Island, where the state’s political establishment convenes every spring for a gathering of power brokers and deal-makers. Ferries shuttle attendees onto the car-free […]

New York Times: “Using tips from chatbots, mechanics modified the motorcycles to allow for faster acceleration and top speed. The riders dug their own holes, filled them with broken glass and fire, and practiced jumps — sometimes with fatal outcomes — until they achieved enough aerial liftoff to mount a successful attack, defectors said.” “The […]

“U.S. forces sharply ramped up their attacks against Iran this week, hitting more than 170 Iranian military targets on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Pentagon said. It was one of the most intense rounds of strikes since the war began more than four months ago,” the New York Times reports. “Analysts said the Trump administration was […]

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President Trump said “he has ‘left instructions’ should Iran succeed in their plots to assassinate him — and there’ll be hell to pay,” the New York Post reports. Said Trump: “I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with… The only thing is, I’ve left instructions — if anything happens, […]

“President Donald Trump said the U.S. would continue talks with Iran but considers the ceasefire between the countries to be over,” Bloomberg reports. Said Trump: “The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that […]

“The U.S. military on Friday released a new batch of files related to UFOs, also known as unidentified anomalous phenomena, the fourth group of documents unveiled in recent months,” CBS News reports. “Friday’s release includes a total of 40 files — 14 documents, 19 videos, four audio files and three images.”

Robert Reich: “His power doesn’t come from his being president of the most powerful nation in the world. In fact, his arbitrary tariffs, absurd war in Iran, and outright abduction of Nicolás Maduro have reduced the U.S.’s standing in much of the world.” “Nor does his power come from his Maga base, which is now […]

“Hungary’s government unveiled plans for a new investigative authority with the power to prosecute suspects and recover misappropriated public assets, fulfilling one of Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s key anti-corruption pledges,” Bloomberg reports. “A bill submitted to parliament on Friday will establish the National Asset Recovery and Asset Protection Office, an independent prosecutorial body with nationwide […]

Shane Harris: “Since Donald Trump returned to office, the number of CIA employees who said they are concerned that the objectivity of analysis is being undermined by political influence has gone up significantly, according to the survey, which is conducted annually by the agency’s ombudsman for analytic integrity. The results haven’t been made public, but […]

“Crack spreads — energy industry measures of the gap between crude prices and refined products like diesel — have soared in recent days as the global fuel picture is increasingly determined by global politics and war,” Axios reports. “Crack spreads are basically the profit margin that refiners add on top of the price of a […]

President Donald Trump said that he would not sign the bipartisan housing deregulation bill “in protest” of the Senate not having the votes to pass the SAVE America Act. Trump did not say that he would veto the bill. The legislation will become law at midnight without Trump’s signature. CNBC: Trump says he won’t sign […]

“Construction workers started hanging large custom-designed tarps over the North Portico’s white columns at the White House on Thursday, showing the public what President Donald Trump wants the renovated front entrance to look like,” the Washington Examiner reports. “The tarps were printed with the redesigned columns as the coverings were placed over the actual columns, […]

“The three men who were arrested during an immigration operation that resulted in the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo said a federal officer fired at them almost immediately after exiting his vehicle and that at no point did the driver veer in his direction,” the Washington Post reports. “The migrants are disputing key elements […]

Politico: “As investors hunt for the Trump administration’s next winner, they’re increasingly trying to anticipate which industries and companies will benefit from White House policy — from tariffs and export controls to procurement, subsidies and even presidential attention itself.” “That has changed how investors think about risk. Beyond earnings and cash flow, they’re weighing which […]

“The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote next week on a bill to make daylight saving time permanent,” Reuters reports.

John Harris: “There is no politician who craves power enough to seek the presidency, however, that he or she would not at least in some moods fantasize about being like Trump in a more fundamental sense: Able to defy convention and shatter precedents with impunity; indifferent to behavioral norms and pieties as enforced by the […]

“Americans’ views of Israel have taken a dramatic turn. It could shape both countries’ politics heading into November’s election and beyond,” Bloomberg reports. New polling this week: 40% of U.S. adults now think America is too supportive of Israel, according to an AP-NORC poll. That’s up from 27% in August 2023, shortly before the Oct. […]

“The Secret Service is planning to provide additional security to a new residence for Vice President JD Vance and his family in Middleburg, Virginia,” NBC News reports. “Middleburg, a tony town known for rolling hills and exclusive horse farms with multimillion-dollar homes, is about 45 miles outside Washington.”

Stephen Collinson: “President Donald Trump’s Iran entanglement is beginning to resemble a visual illusion known as the Penrose stairs, which endlessly climb and descend but always end up in the same place.” “The predicament is of Trump’s own making after he launched a war that never promised a definitive exit and crafted a memorandum of […]

“President Vladimir Putin is rejecting calls to negotiate peace with Kyiv, three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters, with Ukraine’s recent drone strikes on Russia’s oil refineries and ports strengthening his resolve to keep fighting for now,” Reuters reports. “Two of ​the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Putin was instead likely […]

Politico: “Mary Peltola raked in $7 million in Q2 as she challenges GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska… Peltola’s hauls are keeping Democrats hopeful about her chances of flipping one of the most hotly contested seats on the map.”

“On the morning after Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on a Utah college campus, Tyler Robinson’s roommate and romantic partner said the man paced around their St. George townhouse, seemingly trying to keep himself busy and distracted,” Salt Lake Tribune reports. “Lance Twiggs said in a video interview played in court Thursday that he asked […]

“President Trump told a reporter aboard Air Force One that she would also be killed if Iran struck the jet, as tensions rise once again between the U.S. and Tehran,” NewsNation reports. Said Trump: “I’m number one on their list, before you. But if I go, you go. So, perhaps — perhaps some of you […]

“Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) said Thursday he doesn’t know whether Sen. Mitch McConnell is still alive, criticizing the lack of updates about the Kentucky senator’s condition after nearly a month in the hospital,” NewsNation reports. Said Stutzman: “I have not heard from him, and I think it’s a question that Republicans should be asking because […]