“President Trump said he was ordering his administration to allow direct flights from the United States to Lebanon, ending a prohibition that has been in place since Hezbollah hijacked a flight in 1985,” the New York Times reports. “The surprise announcement, which Mr. Trump made on his social media platform after visiting with President Joseph […]

Idrees Kahloon: “Even as he insisted that U.S. global dominance will last forever, Trump is busily dismantling the very economic underpinnings that would ensure future American might.” “When economies lag, hegemony becomes unsustainable. Britain’s decline took only a few short decades. The Soviet Union rivaled America militarily but could not keep up economically, and unraveled […]

“Federal and state officials are investigating reports that nearly 1,000 ballots failed to reach voters in a northern Arizona county with a large indigenous population,” Bloomberg reports. “The ballot issue comes amid Tuesday’s primary elections in Arizona, a critical swing state that President Donald Trump won in 2024 after narrowly losing it in 2020.”

“The Trump administration plans to cut aluminum tariffs for companies investing in smelting plants as it pushes U.S. defense companies to reduce their reliance on foreign adversaries,” the Financial Times reports. “Companies committed to building, expanding or refurbishing American smelting facilities would qualify for incentives amounting to half of the current 50 per cent tariff […]

“Progressive groups are opening a vicious new front in the fight over crypto legislation, targeting Sen Kirsten Gillibrand as she tries to broker a compromise on the CLARITY Act, which has unresolved issues on its ethics provisions,” Axios reports. “The blistering — and deeply personal — attack from Indivisible, Demand Progress and the Revolving Door […]

“The four U.S. soldiers killed in recent days during renewed hostilities with Iran were all assigned to air defense units, assuming the risk of staying on vulnerable bases to protect others from incoming ballistic missile and drone attacks,” the Washington Post reports. “Unlike the past two decades of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, where soldiers […]

“Washington’s Gulf Arab allies are increasingly frustrated as hostilities between the U.S. and Iran intensify, jeopardizing their national security and economies,” Bloomberg reports. “The Gulf states’ exasperation is underscored by their wide-ranging views on what the U.S. should do next.” “Some officials believe President Donald Trump should escalate military operations by deploying ground troops in […]

“Rep. Andy Biggs won the GOP gubernatorial nomination, capitalizing on the endorsement of President Donald Trump and a big advantage in fundraising,” the Washington Post reports.

“President Donald Trump is poised to impose fresh levies on products from dozens of economies by Friday, according to people familiar with the matter, a move to ensure his tariff regime remains intact even after stopgap 10% global duties lapse,” Bloomberg reports. “The Trump administration last month proposed new tariffs of at least 10% on […]

“Generic drug manufacturers will have two years to move production to the U.S. or face a 100% import duty from August 2028, President Donald Trump said in a social media post Tuesday,” Bloomberg reports. “That levy would then double a year later, to 200%, in August 2029.”

“The U.S. measles case count for this year has surged past last year’s total and now stands at 2,295 — a level that hasn’t been seen in 35 years, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker that compiles state and local health data,” Axios reports.

A new American Research Group poll finds just 30% of Americans say they approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president and 67% say they disapprove.

The Economist: “As the ceasefire unravels, four-fifths think the war will last for ‘an extended period,’ finds a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Nearly half think it will grind on for a year or more, according to our own Economist/YouGov polling. Few find the prospect appealing. Net approval for Mr Trump’s decision to attack Iran now stands at […]

“We are done, Americans are done with endless conflict in the Middle East, spending trillions of dollars, American lives… this is insane and we have to call it for what it is.” — Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), on CNN.

“President Donald Trump minimized the prospect of immediate talks with Iran as the two sides exchanged strikes and Houthi militants in Yemen threatened shipping in the Red Sea,” Bloomberg reports. “Trump vowed on Tuesday to respond if the Iran-backed group disrupted that waterway, but didn’t specify how.”

“Jon Stewart did a double take Monday after spotting a man with a striking resemblance to the commander-in-chief – whom he dubbed, ‘back-up Trump’ – wandering near the president,” the New York Post reports.

“President Trump threatened on Tuesday to accelerate the war with Iran by returning the conflict to where it began, with a bunker-busting attack on one of the country’s nuclear facilities,” the New York Times reports. “But the target he has in mind, known among Western intelligence agencies as Pickaxe Mountain, is not complete. No nuclear […]

“Hardline conservatives are gaining power in the Senate atop key committees,” Axios reports. “The senators known for rankling GOP leadership now have gavels that let them hold hearings, advance legislation and even issue subpoenas.”

“President Trump has formally approved a landmark agreement with Saudi Arabia that will provide the country with a civilian nuclear program and potentially open the door to uranium enrichment in the kingdom’s territory, according to U.S. officials,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The new deal, which would last 30 years, is estimated to be worth […]

“The Trump administration plans to accelerate its overhaul of federal research by supporting more individual scientists and the use of artificial intelligence rather than universities, its latest attempt to accelerate technological discovery to combat China,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “In a new report and memo released Tuesday, the White House Office of Science and […]

A new Pine Tree State Poll in Maine finds Troy Jackson (D) leading Sen. Susan Collins (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 46% with just 3% undecided.

“President Trump’s top political advisers inside and outside of the White House are meeting Tuesday afternoon to review polling, their messaging and strategy ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms,” Axios reports. Trump’s super PAC and the Republican National Committee are sitting on about $530 million, and now his team is figuring out how, when and […]

“President Donald Trump’s war chest reached $400 million by the end of June. It still isn’t spending to boost GOP candidates for the midterms,” Politico reports.

“Sen. John Cornyn is threatening to vote down the ambassadorial nominations of two top Trump allies on Wednesday unless the Trump administration releases money aimed at fighting the spread of AIDS in Africa,” Semafor reports.

“Rep. Cleo Fields — whose Louisiana district was at the center of the Supreme Court decision gutting a key part of the Voting Rights Act — announced Tuesday that he will not seek reelection and will instead run for his old state Senate seat,” NOTUS reports.

“President Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. military will bomb Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, a deep underground site that the U.S. and Israel suspect could be used for nuclear activity,” Axios reports. “Trump’s remarks, at the top of his meeting with the president of Lebanon at the White House, signaled that he is not interested in […]

“Most of President Trump’s Cabinet will launch TikTok accounts Tuesday, a move that comes days after the Justice Department told federal employees it was safe to use the app because of its sale to a U.S.-approved owner,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: The move is a striking shift from Trump’s first term, when his administration […]

Punchbowl News: “Senate GOP leaders are planning to put Speaker Mike Johnson’s budget resolution for a third reconciliation bill on ice if it passes the House this week, potentially delaying action on the measure until after the August recess.” ”Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after Republicans’ lunch Tuesday that he won’t move a budget […]

“President Trump’s prime-time speech last Thursday was intended to shore up his tenacious lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him and leaned heavily on recycled claims that the Chinese government tried to tip the scales against him,” the New York Times reports. “But a trove of intelligence documents that Mr. Trump declassified in […]

“New Jersey is removing thousands of non-U.S. citizens from the state’s voter rolls, with state officials blaming a serious software error for the improper registration of the individuals that led to several hundred improper votes being cast,” the Wall Street Journal reports.