Comedian John Melendez ‘hoax calls President Trump on Air Force One and chats with him about controversial family separation policy while pretending to be a New Jersey senator’  —  A voice sounding very much like that of President Donald Trump is heard in a phone call a comedian claims …

The America We Thought We Knew Is Gone  —  Because countries are not people, it's tricky to translate whatever “loving one's country” means—it's quite abstract—into the language of heartbreak.  It sounds melodramatic.  What can heartbreak mean as a civic matter?  And yet it is what I feel.

‘Shaken’ Rosenstein Felt Used by White House in Comey Firing  —  WASHINGTON — In the days after the F.B.I. director James B. Comey was fired last year, the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, repeatedly expressed anger about how the White House used him to rationalize the firing …

U.S. assessing cost of keeping troops in Germany as Trump battles with Europe  —  The Pentagon is analyzing the cost and impact of a large-scale withdrawal or transfer of American troops stationed in Germany, amid growing tensions between President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to people familiar with the work.

Democratic Socialist Candidate's Primary Win Revoked After All Her Votes Forcibly Redistributed  —  NEW YORK, NY—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was elated when reports broke that she had won the Democratic primary for her district, defeating long-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley Tuesday.

Newspaper Staff Warned Years Ago to Call 911 if They Saw Jarrod Ramos  —  Authorities charge suspect in Capital Gazette shooting with five counts of first-degree murder  —  Capital Gazette staff were shown a photo of Jarrod W. Ramos years ago, and warned that if they ever saw him to call 911, a former editor and publisher said.

Obama: ‘You are right to be concerned’  —  In his first public comments in months, the former president talks about anger, regrets — and what the Republicans are doing right.  —  LOS ANGELES — Barack Obama's message to Democrats: Stop dreaming of him.  —  Speaking at a Democratic National …

G.M. Says New Wave of Trump Tariffs Could Force U.S. Job Cuts  —  General Motors warned Friday that if President Trump pushed forward with another wave of tariffs, the move could backfire, leading to “less investment, fewer jobs and lower wages” for its employees.

Manafort assistant gave FBI access to storage locker: testimony  —  ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters) - A personal assistant to Paul Manafort granted an FBI agent access to a storage locker in Virginia, allowing the government to secure evidence that President Donald Trump's former campaign manager …

North Korea has increased nuclear production at secret sites, say U.S. officials  —  “Work is ongoing to deceive us on the number of facilities, the number of weapons, the number of missiles,” said one U.S. official  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies believe that North Korea …

Scoop: Trump's private threat to upend global trade  —  President Trump has repeatedly told top White House officials he wants to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization, a move that would throw global trade into wild disarray, people involved in the talks tell Axios.

They Played Dominoes Outside Their Apartment For Decades.  Then The White People Moved In And Police Started Showing Up.  —  “This used to be a bad neighborhood.”  Two areas of New York City that have recently gentrified have a corresponding high rate of quality-of-life complaints, which sometimes draw the police.

Exclusive: Trump appointee guts UN document on racism, says leaders don't have duty to condemn hate speech  —  Washington (CNN)A Trump administration appointee to the State Department tore into standard UN documents that condemn racism as a threat to democracy.

12-year-old black kid gets cops called on him for cutting neighbors' grass  —  A 12-year-old black child had the police called on him simply for mowing the lawn as part of his summer business.  —  News 5 Cleveland reports that 12-year-old Reginald Fields was mowing the lawn of Lucille Holt …

U.S. Ambassador to Estonia Resigns in Disgust After Trump Anti-Europe Rants  —  James Melville is the latest in a string of career diplomat resignations over Trump's comments and policies.  —  The U.S. ambassador to Estonia, James D. Melville Jr., a career diplomat and member …

Trump's Always-Wrong Economist Lawrence Kudlow Wrongly Says Deficit Is Falling  —  President Trump's chief economic adviser Lawrence Kudlow has made a career out of being extraordinarily wrong about everything without ever reconsidering his absolute devotion to the supply-side economics dogma that has produced all the wrongness.

Trump's White House has been a money-making machine  —  Although Donald Trump handed over control of his businesses to his sons, the president still collects on their profits.  Here's how Trump's White House is a money-making machine.

Trump eyes executive order expanding power to block deals between U.S., foreign telecom firms  —  Trump administration officials are debating whether to declare a “national emergency” to protect U.S. telecommunications networks in a move that would give the federal government broad powers …

We Get Voicemails  —  This week I wrote something that got widely circulated among angry right-wing people on the internet, which caused my personal contact information to be published online, which allowed me to hear voicemails from many new friends.  Let's listen to a few.

“This Guy Is Up to Eyeballs in Shit“: Bill Shine, Roger Ailes's Former Enforcer, Has Been Hired to Shake Up the West Wing.  But Might Hope Hicks Be Chief of Staff?  —  Pushed out of Fox partly for helping to enable sexual harassment, Shine imbibed his boss's view that the press was the enemy—the perfect fit for Trump's West Wing.

Federal judge blocks Kentucky's Medicaid work requirements  —  HHS did not adequately consider whether work requirements meet Medicaid's goal of providing health care to low-income Americans, a judge ruled.  —  A federal judge blocked Kentucky's Medicaid work requirements on Friday …

When the Government Won't Listen, We Must Refuse to Comply  —  Religious leaders have recently been in the news for speaking out against the Trump administration policy of family separation.  Catholic leaders have blasted the policy for traumatizing parents and terrorizing children.

The White House Is Becoming A Ghost Town.  Trump Loyalists Worry It's Going To Get Worse.  —  With high-profile departures and a dysfunctional hiring process, a former White House official jokes part of the building is a “barren wasteland” with rustling “tumbleweed.”  —  Reporting From Washington, DC

Trump's Pentagon Quietly Made A Change To The Stated Mission It's Had For Two Decades  —  For at least two decades, the Department of Defense has explicitly defined its mission on its website as providing “the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country.”

Five Immigrant Children In Detention Have Filed A Lawsuit Against The Government For “Cruel” Treatment  —  The complaint states the unaccompanied children have experienced “irreparable trauma” while in detention, leading to depression and anxiety.  —  Five immigrant children in federal custody filed …

Exclusive: Trump administration plan would bar people who enter illegally from getting asylum  —  A sweeping regulation being considered by the Department of Justice would likely stop most Central Americans from winning asylum in the US.  —  The Department of Justice, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions …

‘I snookered them’: Illinois Nazi candidate creates GOP dumpster fire  —  Republicans fear blowback from Holocaust denier's run for Congress.  —  CHICAGO — Illinois Republicans botched four opportunities to stop an avowed Nazi from representing their party in a Chicago-area congressional district.

Trump Hired A Cop To Run ICE.  It Didn't Work Out.  —  Thomas Homan was unlike anyone who ran Immigration and Customs Enforcement before him.  He retired Friday.  —  Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan retired Friday from government service after spending …

Death in a Hollywood Sex Dungeon: How a Top Agency Executive's “Mummification” Ritual Ended in Tragedy  —  For years, WME vp Skip Chasey has led an openly double life as a “master” in L.A.'s BDSM community.  But a role-playing encounter involving plastic wrap went horrifically wrong …