memeorandum: Trump flags and hats made in China are reportedly being held up at customs as trade war heats up (Rosie Perper/Business Insider)

11:45 AM ET, July 20, 2018

Top Items:

Trump Is Being Manipulated by Putin. What Should We Do? — Lawmakers must keep the American people informed of the current danger, writes a Republican congressman from Texas. — Mr. Hurd, a former C.I.A. officer, is a congressman from the 23rd District of Texas.

Discussion: CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Raw Story, Shareblue Media, NBC News, IJR, Axios, BloombergQuint, Roll Call, The Week, Political Wire, Bloomberg and Mediaite

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Are Republicans Covering for Trump, or for Themselves? — If the N.R.A. was compromised by Russia, the whole party's in trouble. — Of all the interlocking mysteries of the Trump-Russia scandal, one that I've found particularly perplexing is the utter servility of congressional Republicans …

Discussion: USA Today, CNN and Mother Jones

Adam Davidson / New Yorker:

A Theory of Trump Kompromat — Why the President is so nice to Putin, even when Putin might not want him to be. — The former C.I.A. operative Jack Devine watched Donald Trump's performance standing next to Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, and his first thought was, “There is no way Trump is a Russian agent.”

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Trump says he's ‘ready’ to put tariffs on all $505 billion of Chinese goods imported to the US — President Donald Trump has indicated he is willing to put tariffs on all $505 billion of Chinese goods the U.S. imports. — The rhetoric marks ramps up the U.S-China trade war another step …

Discussion: NPR, TheBlaze, Wall Street Journal, Washington Free Beacon, Sarah Palin, Axios, Political Wire, Raw Story, The Guardian and The Week

Caitlin Owens / Axios:
Trade war shakes up Senate races in Trump states

Discussion: CNBC

CNBC:
Stock futures fall after Trump says he's ‘ready to go’ to $500 billion in tariffs on China

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump threatens tariffs on all $500 billion worth of Chinese imports

Discussion: Washington Post, CNBC and Axios

Blake Hounshell / Politico:

Why I'm No Longer a Russiagate Skeptic — Facts are piling up, and it's getting harder to deny what's staring us in the face. — When I wrote, back in February, that I was skeptical that President Donald Trump would ever be proved to have secretly colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election in his favor, I mistyped.

Discussion: Raw Story and CNN

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

White House morale tanks amid Helsinki fallout — Staffers are considering accelerating their departures in the wake of the president's equivocations on Russian meddling in the 2016 election. — President Donald Trump's disastrous performance since his news conference alongside Russian …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, IJR, Raw Story, Washington Post, Vox, Contemptor, Breitbart, The Daily Caller and Joe.My.God.

The Hill:
Trump demoralizes his own team with dizzying Russian moves

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Washington Monthly

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
God bless the ‘deep state’

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, CNBC and Vox

Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Resign, Mike Pompeo. Resign, John Bolton.

Discussion: NewsBusters and BloombergQuint

Scott Bixby / The Daily Beast:

Poll: Half of Americans Think Trump Acted ‘Treasonous’ in Helsinki … President Donald Trump has repeatedly defended his extraordinary performance at a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in Helsinki, dismissing the “many haters” who wanted to see “a boxing match.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Daily Kos, New York Times, NBC News and Media Matters for America

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
“No Way to Run a Superpower”: the Trump-Putin Summit and the Death of American Foreign Policy

Discussion: Bloomberg, Just Security, Balloon Juice and Wall Street Journal

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:
Who Heard What Trump Said to Putin? Only One Other American

Discussion: RedState, TheBlaze, HuffPost, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon

Edward Luce / Financial Times:

Henry Kissinger: ‘We are in a very, very grave period’ — It was not hard to entice Henry Kissinger to meet for lunch. Though he is 95, and moves very slowly, the grand consigliere of American diplomacy is keen to talk. He hops on and off planes to see the likes of Russia's Vladimir Putin …

Discussion: Political Wire, Washington Post and Althouse

New York Times:

Bill Shine, Trump's Top Communicator, Was Questioned by Federal Prosecutors — WASHINGTON — Bill Shine, a former co-president of Fox News hired this month as President Trump's communications chief, brought conservative credentials and heavy baggage with him into the White House.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Week, CNNMoney and Mediaite

NBC 6 South Florida:

Father of Parkland School Shooting Survivors Killed in North Lauderdale Armed Robbery — North Lauderdale Robbery Surveillance Video — The father of two Parkland school shooting survivors was fatally shot at his own North Lauderdale convenience store during a robbery, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Townhall, Bustle, VICE News and TheBlaze

Scott Johnson / Power Line:

The Brennan factor revisited — Following former Obama administration CIA Director John Brennan on Twitter, we see his animus nakedly on display. He is demented by hatred. Is this really the public role a former Director of the CIA is to be playing? Below is his most recent effusion on Twitter.

Discussion: The Federalist, Front Page Magazine, Breitbart and Slate

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal: Brennan and the 2016 Spy Scandal

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
A New Talking Point From the Pro-Trump Fringe

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Politico:

McConnell issues Supreme Court ultimatum — The Senate GOP leader is vowing to squeeze Democrats with a vote on Brett Kavanaugh right before the midterms if they don't back down on their demand for documents. — Mitch McConnell has a warning for Democrats demanding copious documents …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Sarah Palin, Above the Law, SCOTUSblog and The Week

Robert Barnes / Washington Post: Russian firm indicted in special counsel probe cites Kavanaugh decision to argue that charge should be dismissed

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

Fox News' Kimberly Guilfoyle leaving the network to hit campaign trail with Donald Trump Jr. — Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Fox News host and longtime network personality, plans to leave her role at the cable news channel, two people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Contemptor, Mediaite, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller

Jessica Sager / Page Six:

Roseanne Barr on Valerie Jarrett tweet: ‘I thought the b—h was white’ — Roseanne Barr spoke out relatively unapologetically about the vile Valerie Jarrett tweet that got her “Roseanne” reboot canceled: “I thought the b—h was white!” — In a video posted to Barr's YouTube page …

Discussion: The Root and Althouse

Jay Nordlinger / National Review:

Tiny, Faraway Countries and Us — Montenegro is in the news, much to its discomfort. President Trump cast doubt on collective security, which is the crux of NATO: “You know, Montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people. . . . They are very aggressive people.

Predrag Milic / Associated Press: Montenegro more puzzled than affronted by Trump's attention

Joyce Cohen / New York Times:

Graduating to Their First Big City Rental — For two young newcomers, having “the full New York City experience” meant finding a happy medium between uptown gloss and downtown grit. — Two years ago, Alexi Stathakis and Lauren Witonsky met as summer interns at a public relations firm.

Robin Pogrebin / New York Times:

She Gave Millions to Artists Without Credit. Until Now. — The artist Carrie Mae Weems recalls sitting at her desk in Syracuse in 2014 “feeling very anonymous and misunderstood and trying to figure out how to make some new work” when she got the call. — “I was offered this extraordinary gift,” she said.

Media Matters for America:

Study: NY Times, Wash. Post quote more than twice as many Republicans as Democrats in political coverage — Throughout May and June, two of the nation's leading newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, quoted Republicans at more than twice the rate of Democrats in their political news coverage.

BuzzFeed News:

Congratulations, Mr. President: Zuckerberg Secretly Called Trump After The Election — In the days following Donald Trump's election victory over Hillary Clinton, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg placed a secret, previously unreported call to the president-elect during which, sources tell BuzzFeed News …

Discussion: BloombergQuint and Bustle, more at Techmeme »

Hollywood Reporter:

Paramount TV President Amy Powell Fired Over Inappropriate Comments — She was tapped to oversee the division in 2013 and has delivered hits including ‘13 Reasons Why’ and ‘The Alienist.’ — Five years after being tapped to lead the newly relaunched Paramount Television banner, Amy Powell is out.

Discussion: New York Times, BloombergQuint, theGrio and KTLA, more at Mediagazer »

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Dems plan longshot gambit to force action on Mueller protection bill — House Democrats are moving Friday to force Republicans to hold a hearing on a measure that would prevent President Donald Trump from unilaterally removing special counsel Robert Mueller.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Terry Gross / NPR:

Reporter Shows The Links Between The Men Behind Brexit And The Trump Campaign — Carole Cadwalladr's investigation into Cambridge Analytica's role in Brexit led her to Russian connections and the Trump campaign. She says British investigators are working “closely with the FBI.” — TERRY GROSS, HOST:

Ricochet:

The Left Gives Up on Comedy — Jon Gabriel, Ed. — Four years ago, progressives were riding high. Obama was president, healthcare was fixed forever, and the reset-button Ruskies were our best pals. But even in that golden age, there was a growing sense that comedy was ... well ... problematic.

Jon Levine / The Wrap:

USA Today Drops Columnist Cheri Jacobus After Tweet About Convicted Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein (Exclusive) — “Our editors let Jacobus know that she would no longer be writing for USA TODAY,” a spokesperson for the paper tells TheWrap — USA has dropped columnist Cheri Jacobus …

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Washington Times, twitchy.com, Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit

Ryan P. Williams / RealClearPolicy:

Do We Really Need a New Conservatism? — EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second essay of a RealClearPolicy series centered on the American Project, an initiative of the Pepperdine School of Public Policy. The project looks to the country's founding principles to respond to our current cultural and political upheaval.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

Joe Scarborough / Washington Post:

Republicans should be repulsed — The morning after my first congressional reelection campaign, I was driving around Pensacola, Fla., collecting signs from supporters' yards. It was an opportunity to spend time with my dad, who I had always suspected favored my brother over me.

Discussion: CNN and Mediaite

Ben Kamisar / NBC News:

Young voters make up significant portion of new registrations in key states since Parkland shooting — Young voters are flocking to register to vote in key battleground states in the wake of the February school shooting at a Parkland, Fla. high school, according to a new analysis from Democratic data firm TargetSmart.

Discussion: TargetSmart, Mother Jones and Florida Politics

Associated Press:

US, allies set to evacuate Syrian aid workers from southwest — WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the United States is finalizing plans to evacuate several hundred Syrian civil defense workers and their families from southwest Syria as Russian-backed government forces close in on the area.

Gabriel Debenedetti / New York Magazine:

The Progressive Hawaii Senator Reshaping the 2020 Race, Without Even Running — As young, Twitter-friendly Democrats in the Senate go, Brian Schatz is slightly unusual: He really, seriously, definitely has no interest in running for president in 2020. But, slowly and beneath the radar …

New York Daily News:

City releases first of thousands of files linked to the Central Park Five case — One of New York's deepest wounds was reopened Thursday night when a trove of documents detailing the infamous Central Park Five case was released, renewing the debate over how far the city should have gone …

Discussion: The Root

Megan Specia / New York Times:

Inside That Black Sarcophagus in Egypt? 3 Mummies (and No Curses) — When a black granite sarcophagus was found at the bottom of a pit in Alexandria, Egypt, last week, the discovery immediately prompted questions and theories ranging from the sensible to the supernatural.

Discussion: KFOR-TV and news.avclub.com

Bloomberg:

Where the Super-Rich Go to Buy Their Second Passport — Cheaper than a Gulfstream, nimbler than a superyacht, a second passport—or a third or fourth—has become another trophy for the ultra-wealthy. — Even self-styled citizens of the world, it seems, need a Plan B. Plus, that gold Maltese coat of arms looks classy.