Top Items:
Liz Essley Whyte / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Taps a ‘MAHA’ Movement Leader for Surgeon General — Casey Means will work closely with RFK Jr. on health policy, president says — WASHINGTON—President Trump said he would nominate Dr. Casey Means, a California doctor and wellness influencer, to be the next surgeon general.
Discussion:
New York Times and The Post Millennial
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Associated Press:
Donald Trump taps wellness influencer close to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for surgeon general
Andrew Feinberg / The Independent:
Trump picks conspiracy theorist with no medical license to replace Fox News contributor as Surgeon General
Trump picks conspiracy theorist with no medical license to replace Fox News contributor as Surgeon General
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Mediaite, Raw Story, Politico and The Gateway Pundit
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
Trump pulls surgeon general nominee
Trump pulls surgeon general nominee
Discussion:
ABC News, STAT, New Republic, CBS News, Politico, Mediaite, Tennessee Star, UPI, Blaze Media, Roll Call, Axios, Israpundit, RedState, Townhall and Florida Politics
David Pilling / Financial Times:
Bill Gates accuses Elon Musk of ‘killing’ children with USAID cuts — Billionaire reopens feud with Tesla chief as he unveils plan to spend $200bn on philanthropy and close foundation in 2045 — Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free — Your guide to what Trump's second term means for Washington, business and the world
Discussion:
Mediaite
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David Wallace-Wells / New York Times:
Bill Gates Explains His Plans to Close the Gates Foundation in 2045
Bill Gates Explains His Plans to Close the Gates Foundation in 2045
Discussion:
Gates Foundation, CBS News, Reuters, Politico, TechCrunch, UPI, The Wrap, The Verge and WTOP News, more at Techmeme »
Paul Krugman:
Will Trump Pretend to Fix What He Broke? — The Trump administration is planning to announce its first trade deal today, with Britain. Except it won't be a deal; more of a “deal.” Reportedly it will mainly be a “framework” for an actual deal that may or may not happen sometime in the future.
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Politico:
Trump administration eyes release of Hur interview blocked by Biden — Biden had asserted executive privilege to block House committees from obtaining the recordings. — The Trump administration is making plans to release the audio of former President Joe Biden's interview with Robert Hur …
Discussion:
RedState, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, The Post Millennial, Townhall and Raw Story
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Politico:
Biden enlists veteran Democratic operative to help defend his reputation — The Trump administration, meanwhile, is eying the release of Biden's interview with Robert Hur. — Joe Biden is in reputation management mode, hiring a veteran campaign and communications strategist to help burnish …
Discussion:
The Hill, Daily Caller News Foundation, Baltimore Sun, Fox News, Politico, Washington Times, PJ Media and New York Times
Washington Post:
What Ed Martin told the Senate about Jan. 6 — and what he said before — Martin's responses to Senate committee are at odds with previous public comments. His views on the Capitol breach may derail his nomination.
Discussion:
Politico, Declassified with Julie Kelly, masslive.com, New Republic and Raw Story
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Marc Levy / Associated Press:
Sen. John Fetterman raises alarms with outburst at meeting with union officials, AP sources say — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved.
Discussion:
Mediaite
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Mary-Beth Mangrum / WTVC-TV:
From traffic stop to ICE custody: Dalton student now in limbo, family wants answers — DALTON, Ga. — After a traffic stop for turning right on a red light in Dalton on Monday, a 19-year-old Dalton State student is now facing possible deportation. — Friends say Ximena Arias-Cristobal …
Discussion:
New York Post
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Chief Justice John Roberts defends independent judiciary as Trump officials criticize courts — Speaking in Buffalo, the Supreme Court justice said judges sometimes have to “check the excesses” of the president and Congress. — Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday stressed the importance …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Times, C-SPAN.org, UPI, The Independent, ABC News, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, WGRZ-TV and USA Today
Washington Post:
Small-time Trump coin buyers have seen their investments collapse — Nearly 67,000 crypto novices have pulled out their debit cards to bet on Trump's meme coin venture, a Post analysis found. So far it's been a monumental bust. — Rebecca Davis bought President Donald Trump's meme coin …
Michael Daly / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Border Czar Secretly Deported Two U.S. Citizen Children — WITHOUT A TRACE — Two citizens, 5 and 4, simply vanished when their mother was lured to an immigration appointment, advocates say. — EXCLUSIVE — Denisse Parra Vargas and her husband, Omar, had just dropped their three children …
Richard L. Hasen / The Atlantic:
America Needs More Judges Like Judge Myers — When judges act as partisan hacks, it is important to condemn their conduct. Last month, four Republican justices on the North Carolina Supreme Court blessed the antidemocratic attempt by the fellow Republican judge Jefferson Griffin to subvert …
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Pema Levy / Mother Jones:
The Supreme Court Is Really “Just Vibes”
The Supreme Court Is Really “Just Vibes”
Discussion:
Washington Times and The Hill
New York Times:
No One Has Ever Defeated Autocracy From the Sidelines — How will Americans know when we have lost our democracy? — Authoritarianism is harder to recognize than it used to be. Most 21st-century autocrats are elected. Rather than violently suppress opposition like Castro or Pinochet …
Malcolm Ferguson / New Republic:
Federal Reserve Rings Every Alarm Bell About Trump's Economy — Jerome Powell has once again said what everyone except Trump seems to already know: Lowering inflation while enacting staggering tariffs is virtually impossible. — “If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained …
Discussion:
Reuters, CNBC, Fortune, The Daily Wire, Hollywood Life, Daily Kos, Finance News Network, Rolling Stone, Semafor, Forbes, Crooks and Liars, The Hill, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera and New York Times
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Josh Wingrove / Bloomberg:
Trump Slams Fed Chair Powell Again for Keeping Rates Steady
Trump Slams Fed Chair Powell Again for Keeping Rates Steady
Discussion:
The Hill, USA Today, CNBC, Breitbart, Fortune, Raw Story, CBS News, The Japan News, Hollywood Life, ABC News, New York Post, Forbes, Politico, Reuters and CNBC Television on YouTube
Annie Waldman / ProPublica:
Trump's NIH Axed Research Grants Even After a Judge Blocked the Cuts, Internal Records Show — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — For more than two months, the Trump administration …
Discussion:
Mother Jones
TouchGrass:
Kamala Harris Didn't Lose to the Couch — Why did Kamala Harris lose last November? Three answers have been prominently offered: — Too many 2020 Biden voters stayed home, — Too many 2020 Biden voters changed their minds, or — New 2024-only voters broke heavily for Donald Trump.
River Akira Davis / New York Times:
Toyota Says Tariffs Will Erase $1.3 Billion in Profits in Just 2 Months — The automaker's somber forecast for the fiscal year underscored how quickly fortunes have turned for many companies reckoning with President Trump's tariffs. — A year ago, the world's biggest automaker was on a tear.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Fox Business, Kyodo News+ and The Japan Times
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Kennedy Announces New Database for Research Into ‘Root Causes’ of Autism — The director of the National Institutes of Health previously floated — then walked back — the idea of an autism registry, alarming researchers and parents. — After weeks of confusion about his plans for autism research …
Discussion:
Chicago Tribune and New Republic
Graham Parsons / New York Times:
West Point Is Supposed to Educate, Not Indoctrinate — It turned out to be easy to undermine West Point. All it took was an executive order from President Trump and a memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dictating what could and couldn't be taught in the military and its educational institutions.
MSNBC:
‘Disturbing’: Trump admin tapping right-wing MAGA outlet OAN for taxpayer-funded news network — Voice of America will start airing content from the right wing-outlet One America News. It marks a dire shift for the broadcaster, which was founded during the Cold War to counter Communist propaganda.
David Dayen / American Prospect:
Democrats Cave, Prepare to Rubber-Stamp Trump Crypto Corruption — Pro-crypto senators are poised to pass a stablecoin bill, while failing to crack down on the Trump organization issuing one to collect payments from foreign governments. — Despite the twists and turns and drama-creation …
Discussion:
CNBC, NOTUS, The Hill, Bloomberg, Axios, New York Magazine, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Guardian and CBS News
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Bernie Sanders partners with Run for Something to train candidates — The Vermont senator is adding organizational heft to his appeal for progressives to run for office. — Bernie Sanders, who has been calling for progressives to run for office on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour …
Molly White / Citation Needed:
Meet Trump's memecoin dinner guests — Citation Needed is an independent publication, entirely supported by readers like you. Consider signing up for a pay-what-you-can subscription to support this kind of deep analysis and reporting. — Foreign investors have spent millions scrambling …
Discussion:
Meidas+, Rolling Stone, CNBC and Bloomberg
Tom Chivers / Semafor:
Joseph Nye, celebrated US political scientist who coined ‘soft power,’ dies — Joseph Nye, the US political scientist who coined the term “soft power,” died aged 88. — Nye served under former US President Bill Clinton as an assistant secretary of defense, but was best known for his academic work …
CNN:
Exclusive: Some ‘Les Mis’ cast members plan to boycott Trump's attendance at Kennedy Center performance next month — When President Donald Trump descends on the Kennedy Performing Arts Center next month for a high-dollar fundraiser and a performance of “Les Misérables,” …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Breitbart, al.com, The Independent, Washington Examiner, The Wrap, Raw Story, Deadline and Washington Post
Politico:
Judge Boasberg grills DOJ on Trump's comments about El Salvador deportations — “Was the president telling the truth?” the judge asked. — Public comments from President Donald Trump and his aides are once again scrambling the Justice Department's efforts to defend his administration's deportation policies in court.
Discussion:
New York Times, NOTUS, Raw Story, Fox News and Reuters
Scott Calvert / Wall Street Journal:
Locals Fight Back After Naval Academy Removes Books in DEI Cull — After the pulling of 381 titles to comply with a Trump administration directive, many in Annapolis are rallying around the slogan 'Don't give up the book' — ANNAPOLIS, Md.— The U.S. Naval Academy's culling of hundreds …
Andrew Freedman / CNN:
NOAA ends extreme weather database that has tracked cost of disasters since 1980 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday its well-known “billion-dollar weather and climate disasters” database “will be retired,” a move that will make it next to impossible …
Discussion:
E&E News and Christian Science Monitor
Wired:
A ‘Trump Card Visa’ Is Already Showing Up in Immigration Forms — Donald Trump has proposed launching a “gold card” program offering US residency for $5 million. Elon Musk's DOGE has begun rolling out the technology to enable it. — Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency …
Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Worst Idea Since Tariffs — The President is pitching a plan to outdo Democrats on drug price controls. — Loading... President Trump and Republicans appear to be shrinking from reforming Medicaid, but that's not the worst of it. To replace the spending slowdown they won't get in Medicaid …
Discussion:
The Hill, Forbes, Raw Story, The Post Millennial and Axios
Washington Post:
U.S. pushes nations facing tariffs to approve Musk's Starlink, cables show — Some countries have turned to the satellite internet firm in conjunction with trade talks, State Department staffers wrote. The U.S. has a strategic interest in countering Chinese internet providers, but Musk's role complicates the picture.
Discussion:
Reuters, New Jersey Online, Daily Kos, Notes From The Circus, Raw Story, The Register, The Independent and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

