“Over the past two months, the United States has made financial commitments that hint at a limited return to global health and humanitarian assistance partnerships, after the abrupt severing of many of those relationships a year and a half ago,” the New York Times reports.

“Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke to President Trump on Saturday and expressed concern over his plans for massive new strikes against Iran,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: Trump is seriously considering attacking Iranian energy targets in the coming days in response to Iran’s missile strike on a U.S. base in Jordan and its […]

Wall Street Journal: “While many Democratic elites still feel bullish about taking back the House and are willing to throw big money at their favorite candidates, institutional fatigue—and in some cases, full-on drama—has set in among a number of the party’s biggest donors. Like voters, donors say they feel disillusioned with Washington and the party […]

“Conservative activist Laura Loomer believes parts of the GOP have been influenced by Russian and other foreign propaganda,” NewsNation reports. “Loomer’s remarks come after a recent trip to Ukraine, where she said seeing the effects of the war firsthand changed her views on the conflict. She said her perspective shifted after experiencing an air raid […]

“Sen. Darline Graham made her political debut before hundreds of Republican voters in South Carolina on Saturday, saying that she never envisioned a life in politics for herself until after the death of her brother Lindsey Graham, and now wants to work hard to promote the state and President Donald Trump’s policy priorities,” the Associated […]

“The nation is set to have its least competitive congressional election cycle in years by some measures, with California partly driving the shift,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The redistricting carried out in California and nine other states since 2024 has left the nation with an unusually low number of truly competitive districts, narrowing the […]

“Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill ​Pulte posted on Saturday that the transition ‌for Jay Clayton to take over the job will take place on Monday,” Reuters reports.

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“After a spate of bad polls earlier this summer, President Trump simply declared that they were not true. ‘MY REAL POLL NUMBERS ARE THE HIGHEST THEY HAVE EVER BEEN,’ he wrote on social media, using capital letters as if they would shout away any contrary data,” the New York Times reports. “In fact, his real […]

“A ballot referendum in Kansas that’s generated little national attention could set off a nationwide arms race to politicize state courts,” Politico reports. “Kansans on Tuesday will decide whether to amend the state constitution to allow voters to directly elect justices to the state’s highest court — a push by the legislature’s Republican supermajority to […]

New York Times: “The about-face also underscored a recurrent pattern that has diminished the Justice Department’s once-sterling standing with federal judges and juries — the rush by Trump- appointed U.S. attorneys across the country to take quick action against those accused by the president of transgressions, even petty ones.” “It is now much more common […]

“Former Republicans Majorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson are apparently serious about their plans to launch a new political party — and they’ve got some help too,” Mediaite reports. “Greene posted a picture on Saturday of her and her new husband Brian Glenn sitting at a wooden table headed by Carlson, who was flanked by […]

“The grownups are worried. In group chats and at happy hours, some GOP veterans fret about the rising generation of young staffers in their party. The recurring complaint: The pipeline that feeds young conservative talent into government jobs is defective — if not broken,” Politico reports. “This isn’t just the standard middle-aged lament that the […]

“President Donald Trump blasted U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Saturday for moving to drop a criminal charge filed against a former Olympian who had been accused of vandalizing the lining of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool,” the Washington Post reports. “Trump doubled down on claims that the renovated pool had been vandalized, even as federal […]

“Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson is launching his first general election ad, highlighting his own background as a labor organizer and going after Republican Sen. Susan Collins,” NBC News reports. “The 30-second spot, narrated by Jackson, is backed by a seven-figure buy slated to begin airing statewide next week.”

“U.S. embassies in capitals across the Middle East on Saturday warned American citizens to beware of an ‘unforeseen escalation’ in the regional conflict and urged them to be ready to leave,” AFP reports. “The warning, posted online by U.S. embassies in Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab […]

“The lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool peeled away in at least seven places along seams that were created when the material was applied in large rectangular sections, indicating likely problems in how it was installed, according to a Washington Post analysis of visuals and interviews with experts,” the Washington Post reports. President Donald […]

“Newt Gingrich wants congressional Republicans to ride to victory in November by going full-bore at the DSA, ‘Big Government Socialism’ and ‘weird values.'” the New York Post reports. Said Gingrich: “Socialism by itself has been given a new lease on life by three generations of college brainwashing. However, even most young people dislike the term […]

“Nearly seven months after the U.S. toppled Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, the first formal negotiations intended to steer the country toward democracy are kicking off Saturday—without the opposition’s most influential leader,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Sen. Thom Tillis said Saturday morning that new comments by President Trump about his ‘anti-weaponization’ fund mean that attorney general nominee Todd Blanche won’t be confirmed by the Senate next week,” Axios reports. “Why it matters: Tillis’s comment escalates the fight between the White House and holdout Senate Republicans over whether Trump’s fund — for […]

“Public scrutiny of domestic abuse allegations against Rep. Max Miller is quickly mounting. His Republican colleagues have been slow to respond,” Politico reports. ”New reporting on government documents claiming that Miller poured hot water on his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, held a gun to her head and broke their young daughter’s collarbone has brought a wave […]

“Trump Media and Technology Group’s new paid data service launched on Aug. 1, providing faster access to Truth Social posts from President Donald Trump and other top accounts on the platform,” CNBC reports. Associated Press: Trump stands to profit by selling fast access to his social media posts.

“The scope of cyberattacks on U.S. water systems has grown to include at least seven states and may be far wider, officials and experts warned, as the authorities raced to safeguard the nation’s water supply against an assault that increasingly appeared to be the work of Iran,” the New York Times reports. “While there were […]

“A freelance reporter has been fighting a subpoena from the Trump administration seeking to force him to reveal his sources for a New York Times article about a failed top secret mission in North Korea, according to people familiar with the matter,” the New York Times reports. “The subpoena, which has not been previously disclosed, […]

“President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he would ‘push hard’ to enact legislation that would offer payouts to people ‘badly treated’ by the Obama and Biden administrations, his latest threat to resurrect the controversial fund,” the Washington Post reports. Said Trump: “It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it […]

The Atlantic: “Wisconsin has been the nation’s most closely divided state for a quarter century. Since 2000, only one presidential candidate—Barack Obama, twice—has carried the state by more than a single percentage point. But despite its status as a battleground, America’s Dairyland has never been a bastion of milquetoast moderation. Wisconsin has produced both a […]

“President Trump is seriously considering launching attacks against energy targets in Iran in the next few days, but hasn’t given final orders to do it, a U.S. official told Axios on Friday,” Axios reports. “A new U.S. bombing campaign in Iran against energy and infrastructure targets would be aimed at trying to get the Iranians […]

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“When President Donald Trump helped orchestrate Darline Graham’s appointment to finish Sen. Lindsey Graham’s term, many Republicans in South Carolina saw it as a fitting tribute to her late brother,” CNN reports. “But four days later, following Trump’s announcement that he wanted Graham to run for a six-year term, their feelings quickly flipped.” “The president’s […]

“Days after the completion this month of a $14 million renovation, the shallow water in the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool had more algae in it than at any recorded point in the month of June for at least five years, according to a specialized analysis of satellite data,” the Washington Post reports. NOTUS: Trump administration […]