“The top donors in American politics have poured more than $1.6 billion so far this cycle into influencing the country’s politics,” the Washington Post reports. “The donors lean Republican, and cash could prove critical for the GOP to maintain control of Congress in November. Republican-leaning donors gave $1.05 billion, compared with $410 million from Democratic-leaning […]

NOTUS: “Farm organizations, ranchers associations and Republicans swiftly rebuked the plan as detrimental to the American cattle industry, which is experiencing historically low numbers of cattle herds and severe weather patterns on top of Trump’s aggressive tariff measures. Importing foreign beef, agriculture groups say, undercuts American businesses that have increased their prices to stay afloat.”

“Year after year, the federal government has spent more than it collected in taxes. Each annual shortfall increased the national debt, slowly at first and then by leaps, defying warnings of an inevitable reckoning,” the Washington Post reports. “Now, the reckoning may be at hand.” “This week’s bond market sell-off brought government borrowing costs to […]

“President Donald Trump made more than 1,000 securities trades in June, including significant purchases of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Visa Inc. Mastercard Inc. and Cintas Corp. according to a financial disclosure published Saturday,” Bloomberg reports. “The transactions totaled between $78.1 million and $263.1 million in the filing published by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, which […]

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada was “at war” over trade with the U.S. after President Trump “miscalculated” by escalating his tariff attack,” the Financial Times reports. Said Carney: “You’re at war when you’re attacked, and we got attacked.”

“The U.S. Postal Service finalized a rule that would add extra hurdles to mail-in voting, pressing ahead with one of President Donald Trump’s priorities even as court orders keep the push on hold,” Bloomberg reports. “The new rules deviate slightly from Trump’s original plan. The Supreme Court is still weighing a lawsuit challenging the order […]

“Years before Natalie Harp became a key White House aide to President Donald Trump, she flooded her Twitter feed with posts demonstrating extraordinary devotion to him on January 6, 2021,” CNN reports. “Harp posted more than 150 tweets that day, urging Republicans to ‘FIGHT FOR TRUMP’ as he began his speech near the White House. […]

“The morning after he pulled negotiators from trade talks in Washington and set off a new round of American tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday explained to Canadians why he walked away, calling the U.S. proposal ‘a bad deal,'” the New York Times reports. Said Carney: “We’ve recognized from the start that America has […]

“House and Senate Republicans on Friday criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend tariffs on ground beef imports, with lawmakers from agricultural states decrying the impact Trump’s decision will have on farmers,” NBC News reports. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE): “I’m extremely disappointed by this decision from the White House. We all want lower grocery prices, […]

“A new Israeli government effort to build settlements near Jerusalem could lead to another uptick in Israeli-Palestinian tensions, and there’s little indication the Trump administration will use its influence to limit rising instability,” NOTUS reports. “Israel’s housing ministry opened bidding this week for companies to build more than 1,200 housing units in the West Bank’s […]

“President Donald Trump is betting new sanctions, a naval blockade and ramped-up economic pressure against Iran’s trading partners can accomplish what thousands of bombs and missiles could not: force Tehran to accept a deal to end the war on U.S. terms,” Bloomberg reports. “But like other U.S. efforts to force Iran into capitulation, there’s one […]

“The Treasury Department’s announcement of a bond buyback stemmed a selloff—but not for long.,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Financial Times: Bessent takes on bond vigilantes in $32 trillion Treasury market. Axios: Was the Treasury’s market intervention worth it?

“Allies of Mike Rogers, Michigan’s GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, have asked AIPAC not to advertise on his behalf, triggering a rupture with the powerful but polarizing pro-Israel group,” Axios reports. “The extraordinary tension underscores how far AIPAC’s political standing has fallen amid voters’ anger over the war in Gaza. Even Rogers — a […]

“The Trump administration dismissed a dozen senior staff from mortgage giant Fannie Mae this week, the latest move in a push to remake the lender,” Bloomberg reports. The Atlantic: Another Pulte purge, this time at Fannie Mae.

Jonathan Lemire: “It was a pithy and well-structured attack, but not so different from the broadsides delivered daily by Democrats on the campaign trail or on MS NOW. But one new word stood out: Natalie.” “The line got a knowing laugh from a handful of observers in the room, and it electrified a subset of […]

David Graham: “One of Donald Trump’s current favorite riffs is to contrast how (in his opinion) the United States was seen under his predecessor, Joe Biden, and how it’s seen now.” Said Trump: “They didn’t respect us two years ago. They laughed at us. NATO laughed at us. Everybody laughed at us. They don’t laugh […]

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The Washington Post profiles the brother of White House aide Natalie Harp, whose obsession with President Trump put her in the headlines this week. Preston Harp lives in Masaya, a city in western Nicaragua, and is “an ardent supporter of the Sandinistas, a Marxist-influenced revolutionary movement that has dominated Nicaraguan politics for decades under President […]

MS NOW: “Trump is embracing cryptocurrency even as Americans express concern about his financial ties to the industry. He’s touting artificial intelligence data centers that have become politically toxic. And his administration is filled with multimillionaires and billionaires to a degree unmatched by his predecessors.” “Outside the White House bubble, warning lights are flashing. Gas […]

“President Trump is reaching deeper into individual markets to try to ease consumer price strains,” Axios reports. “The administration is under mounting pressure to deliver relief as affordability becomes a bigger political liability ahead of the midterms.” “The push is cutting against — and sometimes rolling back — pillars of Trump’s economic agenda, including tariffs […]

President Trump took questions from reporters on the instability in the bond market: REPORTER: The yields have come back up since then. Have you talked to him about another type of intervention? Is that something he will be doing? TRUMP: We have many types of intervention. That’s one. The ultimate intervention is our military. And […]

“With the Iran war now at a costly standoff and crises from Ukraine to Gaza still unresolved, President Donald Trump’s ambitious foreign policy agenda appears stuck as he heads into November’s midterm elections,” Reuters reports.

“The United States imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday, and Canada immediately said it would retaliate, after last-ditch negotiations failed to resolve the latest strain in already tense relations between the historic allies,” the Associated Press reports. Said Canadian prime minister Mark Carney: “Canada will match those tariffs dollar […]

“Iran maintained its harsh rhetoric Saturday against the U.S.′ plans to impose tough new sanctions,” CNBC reports. Said a spokesman: “The United States’ declaration of new economic sanctions on Iran is far more than continued unlawful ‘economic warfare’ against a single country. It is an assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent Member State of […]

The Guardian: “It would be fair to say that the Trump administration’s celebration of the United States’s 250th birthday has been unorthodox – involving, as it has, an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event at the White House, a poorly attended state fair, and a car race through Washington, before which the U.S. president will take […]

“Two months into her post-prison life, election denier Tina Peters traveled to Washington for high-level meetings this week with Trump administration officials, pitching her plan to invoke emergency powers and assert unprecedented federal control over elections before the November midterms,” CNN reports. “The DC trip – where Peters met Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and the […]

“President Donald Trump wants his supporters to think beyond his endorsed candidates and imagine that he is on the ballot when they vote in this year’s midterm elections,” NBC News reports. Said Trump: “The problem that we have is, they say that Trump does great when he’s on the ballot, but when he’s not on […]

“The Trump administration’s ban on visas for immigrants from 75 countries was struck down by a federal judge on Friday, who ruled it was ‘contrary to law’ and outside the statutory authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” CNN reports.

“Trade negotiations between the United States and Canada fell apart on Friday night, shortly before a midnight deadline for 50% tariffs to take effect on $20 billion worth of Canadian products,” NPR reports.

New York Times: “The progressive maverick Angie Nixon’s upset win in the Democratic Senate primary this week jolted Florida politics, reshaping the dynamics of what had appeared to be a predictable race into one fraught with uncertainty — and, perhaps, opportunity.” “Democrats, who have struggled for relevance over the past few election cycles in the […]