“President Donald Trump is providing Russian President Vladimir Putin a window of opportunity to break apart NATO, analysts fear, even as the Kremlin searches for an elusive path to victory in its grinding war of attrition against Ukraine,” Rolling Stone reports. “American actions are accumulating into an existential crisis for the alliance. Trump and members […]

“President Donald Trump is weighing relying again on a rotating cast of Cabinet officials to handle press briefings for an indefinite period following the departure of press secretary Karoline Leavitt later this month,” CNN reports. “The tentative plan comes amid a seemingly wide-open race to fill Leavitt’s role, with Trump still in the earliest stages […]

“Colombia President Abelardo de la Espriella named former Foreign Minister María Consuelo Araújo his new ambassador to the U.S. as he seeks to rebuild ties after years of tensions under his predecessor,” Bloomberg reports. “Her appointment comes days after De la Espriella spoke with Trump and asked him to temporarily suspend tariffs on Colombian goods […]

“Sen. Jon Ossoff has attacked Donald Trump’s ‘uniquely despicable’ handling of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, accusing the U.S. president of ‘re-rigging’ a corrupt system for himself in an excoriating speech,” The Guardian reports. “Ossoff, who is running for re-election in Georgia in November, has repeatedly stoked speculation that he is laying the ground for […]

“Eric Swalwell confessed to a drug-fueled sex romp with a suspected Chinese spy in newly released files that reveal the disgraced former congressman’s relationship with the woman went way deeper than previously known,” the New York Post reports.

New York Times: “In an era where candidates’ online pasts are etched into the public record, Mr. Herrera’s rise is testing voters’ tolerance for comments, even those made in jest, that are beyond the pale of public acceptability.” “It also underscores the anti-establishment energy coursing through both parties. As they wrestle for control of Congress, […]

“President Trump has ordered a reduction in childhood vaccines — publicly faulting the shots for an increase in autism cases — even as the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has failed to produce evidence linking vaccinations to the disorder,” CBS News reports. “While the executive order released Aug. 10 does not directly […]

Jonathan Bernstein: “House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries went on one of the Sunday shows over the weekend and gave some lame answers to some campaign and policy questions, leading to half of Bluesky getting all upset with him. I noted one person, who I respect, calling him ‘mealy-mouthed.'” “Here’s the thing: Jeffries as minority leader […]

“Wealth, perhaps second only to loyalty, has been a prized attribute for Donald Trump during his second presidency,” the Associated Press reports. “The number of people worth at least $100 million whom the Republican president has appointed to his administration is more than four times the combined total under the three previous presidents, according to […]

Deadline: “There’s a special anniversary coming up on August 28: It’ll be 12 years since Barack Obama wore a tan suit to a press conference at the White House, creating a sartorial stir that has since become an ongoing joke about what generated controversy back then vs. the chaos of today.” “What’s a mystery is […]

“A Russian court sentenced an opposition politician to 11 years and one month in a penal colony for speaking against President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the latest anti-war figure to be jailed in a broader crackdown on dissent,” Bloomberg reports. “Lev Shlosberg, a deputy chairman of the liberal Yabloko party, received the sentence on […]

Simon Shuster: “Western military planners do not seem eager to talk about their nightmare scenario, much less prepare for it. But they tend to agree on how it would begin: a coordinated, near-simultaneous attack on opposite sides of the planet, in which Russia targets a NATO member in Eastern Europe while China makes its move […]

“A bipartisan House effort is underway to fundamentally change how sexual misconduct and other bad behavior on Capitol Hill is identified, investigated and eradicated,” Politico reports. “But the widely-held goal of transforming the workplace culture of Congress could quickly run up against longstanding lawmaker resistance to tools necessary to police themselves, with some worried it […]

“In a few weeks, Germany’s far-right party — Alternative for Germany, better known as AfD — could become a governing party of a German state for the first time. The stakes go far beyond the one state — and likely beyond Europe,” NOTUS reports. “Germany’s modern political system was designed to prevent far-right rule. But […]

“The BBC has asked a Florida court to subpoena members of President Trump’s family as part of the British public broadcaster’s legal defense against Mr. Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit,” CBS News reports. “The BBC’s legal team asked the U.S District Court in the Southern District of Florida for ‘authorization to serve third parties Donald […]

“A Trump-appointed bank regulator has given conditional approval for World Liberty Financial, a crypto business established by President Trump’s sons and the sons of special envoy Steve Witkoff, to become a bank,” CBS News reports.

“Rebuffing President Donald Trump ​for a second time, the U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear his appeal ‌of a $5 million verdict in favor of E. Jean Carroll after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the former magazine columnist,” Reuters reports.

“The United States and Canada are inching closer to a deal to avert the imposition of punitive 50 percent tariffs on such Canadian products as hockey sticks, wine and cement,” the Washington Post reports. “Details remain fluid, and recent talks were contentious ahead of an early-Wednesday deadline. But the emerging accord could pair Canadian tariff […]

“Questions are growing about Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) future as an increasing number of Democratic candidates say they will not support his bid for another term as Senate Democratic leader,” NewsNation reports. “Progressive critics of the Democratic establishment are calling for a leadership shake-up in Washington as their candidates win Senate Democratic primaries in Illinois, […]

NOTUS: “They can be found by most senators’ sides, helping them navigate the maze of hallways, tunnels and subways in the Capitol complex as well as the crowds of reporters outside the Senate chamber who are eager to pounce on their bosses for a quote.” “While most congressional staffers tend to work out of an […]

“President Trump’s cease-fire with Iran in June envisioned a broader deal to end the war and rein in the country’s nuclear program, all negotiated within 60 days,” the New York Times reports. “But that deadline, set to pass on Monday, has been essentially abandoned, and the war has transformed into a contest of willpower and […]

“With less than 100 days left until the midterms, and with President Donald Trump and members of his administration working overtime to undermine trust in American democracy, Wired spoke to election officials across the country struggling to get their heads around how prediction markets could further complicate Election Day.” “Last week’s Wisconsin gubernatorial primary showcased […]

President Trump threatened to “bomb the shit out of” Oman if the country gets in the way of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reports. Financial Times: Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of U.S.-Iran negotiations.

“Greg Ballard, the former two-term Republican mayor of Indianapolis, is running for secretary of state in Indiana this year, hoping to create a new party that he says would increase competition in general elections and moderate growing extremism in the state,” NBC News reports. “Ballard, 71, gathered more than 37,000 signatures — an endeavor that […]

Peter Hamby: “As the next presidential race looms, Democratic operatives have begun studying how to reach less politically engaged swing voters on the platforms that may determine the next election—TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and even ChatGPT.” “And they’re already strategizing about how to leverage their search activity to create ads blaming Vance and Rubio for everything […]

Punchbowl News: “Jeffries leaning heavily into the ‘Democrats will fight Trump-GOP corruption’ line. Republicans are hammering the ‘Democrats are communists’ message (more on that below), which makes the Democratic response — alongside ‘Trump is failing on the economy’ — worth tracking.” Said Jeffries: “That means us, House Democrats, lowering the high cost of living in […]

“For years, Republicans have had a lock on those who base their vote on their religious preferences and values, but this year’s midterm elections have seen some Democratic candidates sharing their faith to try to connect with voters,” ABC News reports. “Starting in the 1980s, in what one expert called an ‘exodus,’ there was a shift of […]

NBC News: “For more than a year, Texas attorney general and GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton has been probing what he says is the large number of noncitizens who illegally voted in his state. So far, three people have been prosecuted.” “And among 53 cases that were referred for investigation, at least five people were […]

“First lady Melania Trump did not attend Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral. She skipped the reimagined White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. And when the remains of four U.S. service members were received by their families on July 22, the wife of the commander-in-chief was not there,” NBC News reports. “While she continues to work behind the […]

“British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with someone impersonating White House chief of staff Susie Wiles,” CBS News reports.