Angry Trump Grilled His Generals About Troop Increase, Then Gave In  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump's skepticism about America's involvement in Afghanistan was no secret to his staff.  But his top national security officials were still taken aback at a meeting in the Situation Room on July 19 …

Mnuchin's Wife Mocks Oregon Woman Over Lifestyle and Wealth  —  WASHINGTON — The wife of the Treasury secretary on Monday night took a page from President Trump's social media playbook for punching down.  —  Louise Linton, the labels-loving wife of Steven Mnuchin, replied condescendingly …

Senate Leadership Fund: “ChemtrailKelli” AZ  —  Arizonans rejected Chemtrail Kelli Ward's embarrassing behavior and dangerous ideas just one year ago.  But she's back at it again.  —  Chemtrail Kelli supported wacky conspiracy theories and even spent taxpayer money on a town-hall about chemtrails.

Trump aides plot a big immigration deal — that breaks a campaign promise  —  Donald Trump's top aides are pushing him to protect young people brought into the country illegally as children — and then use the issue as a bargaining chip for a larger immigration deal — despite the president's campaign vow to deport so-called Dreamers.

12 Browns players kneel in prayer over racial, social injustice  —  CLEVELAND — A dozen Browns players took a knee in prayer during the national anthem before Monday night's preseason game against the New York Giants.  —  While the group knelt behind the bench, several other players placed …

‘My actions were despicable’: Catholic priest steps down after revealing he was a Ku Klux Klan member decades ago  —  A Catholic priest in Arlington, Va., is temporarily stepping down after revealing he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and burned crosses more than 40 years ago before becoming a clergy member.

President Trump's list of false and misleading claims tops 1,000 … We have been tracking President Trump's false or misleading claims for more than seven months.  Somewhere around Aug. 4 or Aug. 5, he broke 1,000 claims, and the tally now stands at 1,057.  (Our full interactive graphic can be found here.)

Is Anybody Home at HUD?  —  A long-harbored conservative dream — the “dismantling of the administrative state” — is taking place under Secretary Ben Carson.  —  In mid-May, Steve Preston, who served as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the final two years …

Chaos Breaks Out at Charlottesville City Council Meeting  —  CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — They shouted down the mayor and City Council members, took over the Council chambers for about a half-hour, and gave more than four hours of impassioned testimony about how city officials had botched the response …

Fake Polls Are A Real Problem  —  Is Kid Rock leading the U.S. Senate race in Michigan?  A story like that is essentially designed to go viral, and that's exactly what happened when Delphi Analytica released a poll fielded from July 14 to July 18.  Republican Kid Rock earned 30 percent to Sen. Debbie Stabenow's 26 percent.

A Woman Who Says She Had Underage Sex With R. Kelly Is Finally Telling Her Story  —  Jerhonda Pace was just 15 when she met her musical idol, R. Kelly, outside his child pornography trial.  The alleged underage sexual relationship with him that followed and subsequent payouts mirror decades of allegations against the star.

North Korea shipments to Syria chemical arms agency intercepted: U.N. report  —  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Two North Korean shipments to a Syrian government agency responsible for the country's chemical weapons program were intercepted in the past six months, according to a confidential United Nations report …

‘Some remains’ of missing 10 sailors found after collision, admiral says  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  (CNN)"Some remains" of 10 missing US sailors have been found after the collision between the US destroyer John S. McCain and an oil tanker near Singapore, US Navy Adm. Scott Swift said Tuesday.

Glenn Simpson, key figure behind million-dollar ‘dossier,’ to face questions  —  A key figure behind the so-called “dossier” featuring uncorroborated and salacious allegations about then-candidate Donald Trump's ties to Russia will be questioned by investigators from the Senate Judiciary Committee today …

Gawker has been gone for a year.  We've never needed it more than now.  —  Gawker wasn't perfect.  But in the age of Trump, it's hard not to miss its voice.  (Henri Grivot/AP)  —  One year ago today, Gawker shut down.  Nick Denton's legendary website is now gone, sued into oblivion …

Pressure on Manafort grows as feds track more income, possible money laundering  —  WASHINGTON  —  Paul Manafort's place in the crosshairs of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into the Kremlin's attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election seems to be growing more uncomfortable.

The Book He Wasn't Supposed to Write  —  I had written five books for Scott Moyers, following him as he moved from editing jobs at Scribner's to Random House and then to Penguin Press.  We worked well together, and in part thanks to his strong editing hand, my last three books had been bestsellers.

Pro-Trump Rallies in 36 States Canceled, Will Be Held As Online Demonstrations  —  Pro-Trump rallies that were originally being planned for roughly 37 locations across the US have been canceled.  The rallies, scheduled for September 9th, were being coordinated by ACT For America …

Exclusive: Sen. Schatz's new health care idea could be the Democratic Party's future  —  Democrats are ready to go on the health care offensive.  And Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) may have a new plan for them to do it.  —  In an interview with Vox, Schatz revealed that he's preparing a new bill …

Jared Kushner heads to the Middle East  —  What you need to know about Jared Kushner  —  Washington (CNN)White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell and envoy Jason Greenblatt left Sunday for a Middle East tour that will take them from Gulf states …

Polls Show Trump Cratering?  Not So Fast  —  Diagnosing the state of President Donald Trump's political health should be a simple matter.  The story that the traditional metrics tell is straightforward.  —  On a good day for him, Trump's approval rating might crack 40 percent.