“China sharply condemned the sweeping new sanctions campaign against Iran and its trading partners announced by the United States,” the Washington Post reports. “China is Iran’s top trading partner and the newly announced U.S. economic pressure campaign risks a flare-up in relations just as President Donald Trump has sought to ease tensions and secure a […]

I’ve completely rebuilt the Favorites feature on Political Wire — and since many members probably didn’t even know it existed, it’s worth a quick re-introduction. Favorites are the easiest way to save a Political Wire post you want to come back to later. You’ll now see a small bookmark icon next to the Comments link […]

“President Donald Trump’s latest trade policies are creating new political headaches for Republicans, threatening their efforts to address voters’ economic concerns less than three months from the midterm elections,” NOTUS reports. “In the past week, Trump escalated a costly trade war with Canada and allowed cheap beef imports to flood the U.S. market, angering many […]

“A federal judge temporarily blocked Ohio from requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote at motor vehicle offices, a setback for conservative efforts to tighten voter registration rules ahead of the November midterms,” the Washington Post reports. “Ohio’s law requiring proof of citizenship at Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ offices conflicts with the federal National […]

“For much of his second term, President Donald Trump has been trying to dramatically change how people vote. He’s pushed to limit (or ban) mail voting, create strict voter ID laws, require verification of citizenship, and even once said that Republicans should ‘take over the voting’ and nationalize it,” the Washington Post reports. “His attempts […]

“A series of firings and feuds initiated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has left the Army essentially rudderless as it struggles to deal with the threat posed by cheap, deadly drones and missiles that have pounded U.S. bases in the Middle East,” the New York Times reports. “The Army has not had a chief of […]

“Iranian missile and drone attacks have inflicted damage on U.S. intelligence posts and surveillance hardware in the Middle East that is more extensive than any destruction America’s spy agencies have endured and will cost billions of dollars to repair,” NBC News reports. “The Iranian strikes have forced Congress to find funds to restore the targeted […]

“A baseline assumption in asset allocation, regulatory policy and international finance has long been that U.S. Treasury securities are risk-free assets that offer protection against the vagaries of economic fortune. It may no longer be valid,” Axios reports. “That’s the cold reality that lurks beneath the rise in longer-term bond yields in recent weeks that […]

“Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell says he has withheld payment to cover the cost of a recount after this month’s loss in the primary election, claiming the Secretary of State’s Office proposed an unlawful process to recount the votes,” the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. “Lindell needed to submit $825,000 to the state by midnight Monday […]

“When the Supreme Court cleared a path on Monday for President Trump to continue pursuing proposed restrictions on voting by mail, the justices laid out their reasoning in a 10-page opinion,” the New York Times reports. “That explanation, characterizing lower-court rulings against the administration as premature, marked a departure from how the court had routinely […]

“Ralph Alvarado is running with Donald Trump’s endorsement in a House district in Kentucky that the president carried by double digits in 2024,” NBC News reports. “But since winning the Republican primary in May, he has removed a series of pro-Trump messages and a photo of them standing together from his campaign website.”

“Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have both launched YouTube shows in recent weeks, the latest examples of how the Trump administration is redefining how government communicates with the American public,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: The White House has bypassed traditional press relations while assuming an […]

“Hossein Taeb built a reputation for ruthlessness over a four-decade career in Iran’s post-revolution security apparatus. After a break from the public eye, he’s back, reprising his former job as head of the country’s powerful volunteer militia, the Basij,” Bloomberg reports.

“Lawyers for the Trump administration told a federal judge that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts desperately needs the major renovation ordered by President Trump and raised the specter that it would need to be ‘taken down’ if those plans are blocked,” the New York Times reports.

“Two unvaccinated people in Pennsylvania have died from measles, as a large outbreak there continues to spread, the state’s Health Department reported on Tuesday morning. They were the first measles deaths this year in the United States,” the New York Times reports. “The deaths come during a record-setting year for measles in the United States: […]

“Congressional Republicans are leveling some rare and uncharacteristically harsh criticism of President Trump for his decision to increase imports of ground beef at a lower tariff rate, warning that the move will hurt American ranchers,” the New York Times reports. “The decision, announced late last week, appeared to be a bid to lower costs across […]

“A Republican-backed election overhaul, which would add proof-of-citizenship and other identification requirements to the voting process, has stalled in Congress,” NPR reports. “But voters in a number of states are weighing in on some of these same issues this year.” “Voters in at least six states will decide ballot measures related to voter ID — […]

“Jimmy Kimmel has spent years openly wondering when he might be ready to leave late night. These days, though, he says he’s finding more reasons to stay,” Late Nighter reports.

“CIA Director John Ratcliffe is in Moscow, Russia, for meetings,” CBS News reports. “News of his trip comes after a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport plane was spotted at a Moscow airport, along with a U.S. diplomatic motorcade. Neither the U.S. nor Russian governments has commented on the identity of the U.S. […]

“Canada said Tuesday it intends to impose tariffs of up to 50% on roughly 700 products as the acrimony between Ottawa and Washington escalates following the collapse of trade talks,” the Wall Street Journal reports. CNBC: Canada to retaliate against Trump tariffs: “We’re not waiting by the phone.”

“Kennedy Center attorneys defended the board’s decision earlier this month to restore Donald Trump‘s name three times to the complex, arguing that it is essential to saving the institution,” Deadline reports. From the filing: “The Board also underscores, and the undisputed evidence demonstrates, that without the prominent recognition of The Trump Administration, and President Trump’s […]

President Trump’s war with Iran is shaping up as one of the most spectacular foreign policy blunders of any modern presidency. The Iranian people are hardly better off. Iran’s leadership appears more entrenched than ever. And the regime now has even more incentive to acquire nuclear weapons, threaten its neighbors and target American interests in […]

“The Secret Service has said it is aware of a video broadcast by Iranian state media appearing to threaten Barron Trump, President Donald Trump’s son,” the Washington Post reports. “The footage, which was reportedly released by media linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed a $10 million bounty had been placed on him.”

Nate Silver: “So much of my skeptical feeling, obviously, derives from Democrats’ long losing streak in Texas. But I’m not sure that tells you so much…” “But in politics even more so than in sports — at least in sports, there are plausibly psychological/clutch factors that models might not account for — this sort of […]

Forbes: “A record 5% of non-exempt workers, employees who can receive minimum wage and overtime pay, across the 10 most populous states in the U.S. were paid below the minimum wage last year, according to a Cleveland Fed analysis drawing on Census Bureau data.” “Researchers estimated around 6.5 million workers in the U.S. were paid […]

“Archeologists are confronting an ‘unfathomable’ loss as the U.S. border wall is set to cut across ranches that are home to unique historical sites in Texas, many of which haven’t been fully studied,” Wired reports.

“A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s effort to toss out her 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges and 20-year prison sentence,” CBS News reports.

The Atlantic: “The Qataris play every side, and many of their partners resent them for it. Nonetheless, for decades their experience seemed to show that they really could just buy their national security, along with global influence and even a cosmopolitan culture. Trump must initially have seemed to them to be an ideal partner. And […]

“Canada’s government on Tuesday will announce a range of measures to ‘protect and support’ its workers and businesses in response to 50% U.S. tariffs which were applied to about $20 billion of its annual exports on Saturday,” Bloomberg reports. “Domestic measures will include expanded jobless benefits, people familiar with the planning said, asking not to […]

“Last Tuesday, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei hosted a wake for his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Among the thousands who thronged Tehran’s biggest mosque were the country’s most prominent political figures and several of the elder Khamenei’s sons. One person was notably absent: Mojtaba, the event’s official host,” The Atlantic reports. “Almost six […]