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10:45 PM ET, May 12, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Politico:
Trump's free plane is not so free  —  The Boeing aircraft that Qatar may give the president would require a pricy and complicated overhaul to serve as Air Force One.  —  President Donald Trump insists he's getting a “free, very expensive airplane” from Qatar's royal family.
RELATED:
Slate:
Donald Trump's Corruption Reaches New Heights  —  On Sunday, ABC News reported that President Donald Trump plans to accept a $400 million “flying palace” from the royal family of Qatar.  The deal, it appears, is that the super-luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet will become the new Air Force …
Garrett M. Graff / Doomsday Scenario:
Corruption and a Security Catastrophe in Plane Sight  —  Of course a foreign government would love to give the US president a plane....  I will admit that as a presidential historian and national security nerd one of my first thoughts last November after Donald Trump won office was, “Ugh” …
Discussion: Law and Chaos and Fox News
New York Times:
Auction to Dine With Trump Creates Foreign Influence Opportunity … The sale of face-to-face access to President Trump using the Trump family's own cryptocurrency has done more than benefit him financially, though it has certainly done that.  —  Mr. Trump announced last month that leading buyers …
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Trump's Plan to Accept Luxury Jet From Qatar Strains Bounds of Propriety  —  The second Trump administration is blowing through limits on the mixing of public office and personal benefits.  —  During President Trump's first term, the idea that special interests and governments were buying meals …
Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money
Washington Post:
Trump's gifted Qatari 747 would be a security problem, officials say  —  The luxury jet was moved five weeks ago to San Antonio International Airport, suggesting that preparations for improvements to the plane might already be underway.  —  President Donald Trump on Monday praised Qatar …
Dean Obeidallah / The Dean's Report:
Trump is the most corrupt President in U.S. history. Period.
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump, Pressed on Qatari Jet, Says Only ‘Stupid’ People Reject Gifts
Axios:
Trump's trillion-dollar trip
Edith Olmsted / New Republic:
Trump Melts Down Over Damning Report on Qatar Giving Him a Private Jet
Politico:
Hill leaders question Trump's attempted Library of Congress takeover  —  Top congressional leaders are pushing back against President Donald Trump's attempt to replace to Library of Congress leaders, with the dispute over presidential powers over the institution leaving its future in question Monday.
RELATED:
Axios:
Trump naming his former defense attorney as acting Librarian of Congress  —  President Trump will name deputy attorney general Todd Blanche to be the acting Librarian of Congress, a Justice Department official confirmed to Axios.  —  Why it matters: Blanche, who represented Trump in his hush money trial …
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Todd Blanche, DOJ No. 2, is now acting Library of Congress chief
Discussion: HuffPost, Forbes and Raw Story
Neda Ulaby / NPR:
The President has named a new Acting Librarian of Congress. It's his former defense lawyer.
Discussion: New York Times and Reason
Jack Jenkins / RNS:
Episcopal Church refuses to resettle white Afrikaners, ends partnership with US government  —  (RNS) — In a striking move that ends a nearly four-decades-old relationship between the federal government and the Episcopal Church, the denomination announced on Monday (May 12) …
RELATED:
The Episcopal Church:
Letter from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe on Episcopal Migration Ministries  —  Office of Public Affairs  —  English  —  Dear People of God in The Episcopal Church:  —  I am writing today with some significant news about Episcopal Migration Ministries, the organization that leads The Episcopal Church's refugee resettlement ministry.
Washington Post:
White South Africans arrive at Dulles as refugees under Trump order
RELATED:
New York Times:
U.S. and China Agree to Temporarily Slash Tariffs in Bid to Defuse Trade War
David Frum / The Atlantic:   The Ultimate Bait and Switch of Trump's Tariffs
Wall Street Journal:   The Great Trump Tariff Rollback
Associated Press:
US and China reach a deal to slash sky-high tariffs for now, with a 90-day pause
Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill  —  Republicans try to use the Budget Reconciliation bill to stop states from regulating AI entirely for 10 years.  —  Late last night, House Republicans introduced new language to the Budget Reconciliation bill …
Discussion: The Hill
President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:  —  Section 1.  Purpose.  The United States has less than five percent …
Amanda Friedman / Politico:
DHS terminates temporary protected status program for Afghans  —  The move follows the Trump administration's decision last month to not renew such protections for Afghans residing in the U.S.  —  Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced on Monday that the U.S. will terminate …
RELATED:
Department of Homeland Security:
DHS Terminating Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan
Discussion: CBS News, UPI and Axios
Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Rock Creek Isn't Safe to Swim In.  RFK Jr. Did It Anyway.  —  Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went for a swim in Rock Creek yesterday.  —  Health officials typically advise against swimming in that DC waterway, because sewage from the city's aging system flows into it.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Why Trump Suddenly Declared Victory Over the Houthi Militia … President Trump has never bought into long-running military entanglements in the Middle East.Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times  —  When he approved a campaign to reopen shipping in the Red Sea by bombing the Houthi militant group …
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Rule of law is ‘endangered,’ chief justice says  —  Speaking at Georgetown Law, Chief Justice John Roberts denounced “ad hominem” criticism of the justices.  —  Chief Justice John Roberts described the rule of law as “endangered” and warned against “trashing the justices,” …
Discussion: Bloomberg and The Gateway Pundit
Taragallegos / Governor of California:
Governor Newsom releases state model for cities and counties to immediately address encampments with urgency and dignity  —  What you need to know: Governor Newsom today released a model ordinance for cities and counties to immediately address dangerous and unhealthy encampments …
RELATED:
Lisa Mascaro / Associated Press:
House Republicans unveil Medicaid cuts that Democrats warn will leave millions without care  —  House Republicans unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of President Donald Trump's “ big, beautiful bill ” late Sunday, at least $880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks.
RELATED:
Josh Hawley / New York Times:
Don't Cut Medicaid  —  Polls show Democrats down in the dumps at their lowest approval level in decades …
Taylor Lorenz / User Mag:
Hasan Piker detained at the border and questioned for hours over politics  —  “They straight up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently” … Hasan Piker, the biggest progressive political streamer in America, was detained by Customs …
 
 
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 More Items: 
New York Times:
Elon Musk's Boring Company Is in Talks With Government Over Amtrak Project
Jay Nordlinger / National Review:
WFB & Co.  —  I can't remember when I first encountered Bill Buckley — in print, I mean, not in the flesh.
John L. Dorman / Business Insider:
Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill’ includes $1,000 ‘MAGA accounts’ for kids
Discussion: Semafor and Raw Story
Department of Homeland Security:
Department of Homeland Security Investigates State of California for Providing Federal Benefits to Illegal Aliens
 Earlier Items: 
Reporters Without Borders:
Radio Free Asia's Uyghur service in danger following Trump's decisions: “Without RFA, China will truly become a black hole for information”
Discussion: JURISTnews
Molly Taft / Wired:
The EPA Will Likely Gut Team That Studies Health Risks From Chemicals
Carrie Johnson / NPR:
Race to lead D.C. lawyers' association grows heated amid attacks on law firms
Discussion: Axios and Washington Examiner
Courtney Kube / NBC News:
Pentagon spent at least $21 million on flights to Guantanamo, which currently holds 32 migrants
Discussion: Daily Kos, CBS News and DNyuz
New York Times:
Here Is Everything That Has Changed Since Congestion Pricing Started in New York
Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money
Barak Ravid / Axios:
Hamas to release Israeli-American hostage as gesture to Trump
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Bloomberg:
Sources: WBD begins exclusive talks with Netflix to sell its film and TV studios and HBO Max; Netflix is offering a $5B breakup fee if the deal isn't approved

The Guardian:
Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands exit Eurovision after Israel received an all-clear to compete; the BBC and Germany's SWR plan to participate

James Faris / Business Insider:
Kalshi strikes a deal with CNBC that will integrate Kalshi's prediction data into CNBC's channel, site, and app starting in 2026, days after striking a CNN deal
 
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