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4:55 PM ET, May 21, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Bill McCarthy / Barron's Online:
Trump Displays DRC Visual As Proof Of South African ‘Genocide’  —  US President Donald Trump brandished a stack of printed articles at the White House Wednesday that he claimed documented a genocide taking place against white people in South Africa.  —  Mixed into the deck of papers he unveiled …
RELATED:
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Trump ambushes South Africa's president with video footage in Oval Office  —  In a shocking moment during President Trump's meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, Trump requested for videos to be displayed purporting to show evidence of violence against white people in the country.
New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: President and South African Leader Meet at White House  —  Where Things Stand  — South African visit: President Trump is meeting President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa at the White House and is expected to press him to roll back his country's racial equity laws …
Nikki McCann Ramirez / Rolling Stone:
South African President Calls Out Trump: 'I'm Sorry I Don't Have a Plane to Give You'  —  Cyril Ramaphosa clashed with Trump over false claims that white farmers in South Africa are the victims of genocide  —  President Donald Trump spent much of Wednesday's Oval Office meeting …
Reuters:
Trump calls his own foreign aid cuts at USAID ‘devastating’
Discussion: Undark Magazine and The Daily Wire
Washington Post:
Trump and GOP's tax bill would force cuts to Medicare, CBO says  —  Some $500 billion in cuts to Medicare could be avoided if Congress instructs the White House budget office to disregard the reconciliation package's debt impact.  —  President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans' mammoth tax …
RELATED:
Charles Gaba / ACA Signups:
Surprise!  GOP Medicaid Massacre bill is also a Medicare Massacre bill!  —  Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Brendon Boyle, on MSNBC last night:  —  Rep. Boyle: The one thing I would point out, though, is this bill is actually significantly worse [than the GOP's ACA repeal attempt in 2017] …
Discussion: NOTUS, Politico, KFF and New Republic
New York Times:
Judge Finds U.S. Violated Court Order With Sudden Deportation Flight to Africa  —  Lawyers for some of the eight migrants deported Tuesday said they were told they were being sent to South Sudan.  People familiar with the plane said it had landed for now in Djibouti.
RELATED:
Politico:
Trump admin deportation flight to South Sudan violated court order, judge rules
New York Times:
Judge Orders U.S. to Keep Custody of Migrants Amid Claims They Were Sent to South Sudan
Ry Rivard / Politico:
Judge criticizes DOJ for ‘worrisome’ and ‘embarrassing’ blunders in arrest of New Jersey mayor at ICE facility  —  Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa granted what he called the “embarrassing retraction” of the trespassing charge following a May 9 incident.
RELATED:
Zach Blackburn / New Jersey Globe:
Judge dismisses Baraka charges, reprimands prosecutors  —  Prosecutors announced the decision to drop trespassing charges against the mayor earlier this week  —  A federal judge on Wednesday scolded federal prosecutors and announced he will dismiss trespassing charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka related …
Ella Lee / The Hill:
Judge scolds DOJ in dismissing ICE facility trespassing charge against Newark mayor
Discussion: MSNBC and The Week
The Intercept:
ICE Agents Are Camped Outside Immigration Courts to Make Arrests
Discussion: The Contrarian and Bloomberg
New York Times:
U.S. Formally Accepts Luxury Jet From Qatar for Trump  —  The Air Force has been asked to figure out a way to upgrade it so it can be put into use as a new Air Force One for the president.  —  The United States has accepted a 747 jetliner as a gift from the government of Qatar …
RELATED:
Luis Martinez / Associated Press:
Pentagon accepts luxury jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One
Nancy A. Youssef / Wall Street Journal:
Pentagon Says It Has Taken Possession of 747 Jet From Qatar
Discussion: Newsmax
Chiara Eisner / NPR:
Diseases are spreading.  The CDC isn't warning the public like it was months ago  —  To accomplish its mission of increasing the health security of the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that it “conducts critical science and provides health information” to protect the nation.
Discussion: Raw Story
Betsy Morais / Columbia Journalism Review:
Journalists Attest to Experiences of Sexual Misconduct with Wesley Lowery  —  Lowery rose to prominence as a reporter and media thinker.  Women in the industry say he engaged in sexual harassment and assault.  —  Wesley Lowery—the winner of a Pulitzer Prize and a George Polk Award …
more at Mediagazer »
John Ismay / New York Times:
Pete Hegseth Leads Christian Prayer Service in the Pentagon  —  The event was held in the Pentagon's auditorium during working hours and featured Mr. Hegseth's pastor.  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon's auditorium on Wednesday morning …
Reuters:
Exclusive: Hacker who breached communications app used by Trump aide stole data from across US government  —  A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broader swathe of American officials …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Justice Dept. to End Oversight of Local Police Accused of Abuses  —  Days before the anniversary of George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis, the Trump administration said that it would abandon efforts to reduce police violence there and in several other cities.
RELATED:
US Department of Justice:
The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division Dismisses Biden-Era Police Investigations and Proposed Police Consent Decrees in Louisville and Minneapolis
Leigh Kimmins / The Daily Beast:
Musk Insults Interviewer for Daring to Ask About His Big DOGE Promise  —  TOUCHY SUBJECT  —  Musk said the cost-cutting task force would save $2 trillion.  By its own estimate, just $160 billion has been saved.  —  A defensive Elon Musk shut down an interviewer by saying …
Discussion: CNN, Mediaite and Gizmodo
RELATED:
The Atlantic:
The Decline and Fall of Elon Musk
Discussion: Vox, Fortune, New Jersey Online and Mediaite
New York Times:
Official Pushed to Rewrite Intelligence So It Could Not Be ‘Used Against’ Trump  —  An assessment contradicted a presidential proclamation.  A political appointee demanded a redo, then pushed for changes to the new analysis, too.  —  New emails document how a top aide to Tulsi Gabbard …
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
JD Vance on His Faith and Trump's Most Controversial Policies  —  On this episode of “Interesting Times,” Ross Douthat interviews Vice President JD Vance about the Trump administration's deportations, the tariff backlash and how Vance's faith influences his politics.
Anusha Mathur / Washington Post:
Gerry Connolly, congressman who protected federal workforce, dies at 75  —  The nine-term Virginia Democrat pushed back against the Trump administration's efforts to strip protections from civil servants and federal unions.  —  Gerry Connolly, a Democratic congressman who played a large part …
New York Times:
If Justice Dept. Can't Prosecute Trump's Foes, It Will ‘Shame’ Them, Official Says  —  Prosecutors have long spoken only through court filings, to investigate crimes, not people.  That's changing as President Trump demands his administration target enemies, with little evidence of criminality.
Molly Taft / Wired:
Trump Cuts Are Killing a Tiny Office That Keeps Measurements of the World Accurate  —  A tiny but crucial agency that maintains physical coordinates like latitude and longitude in the US is struggling as the Trump administration forces out federal employees.
Alfred Ng / Politico:
Trump illegally fired surveillance watchdog agency's Democrats, judge rules  —  The case could have ramifications beyond the board, extending to the rest of the Trump administration's control of independent federal agencies.  —  President Donald Trump illegally removed two Democratic members …
CBS News:
Rep. Keating pushes Rubio at House hearing: “Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?”  —  Democratic Rep. Bill Keating asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio if Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a war criminal” while he questioned him at a House hearing on Wednesday.
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Even as he fights cancer, Biden owes Americans an explanation  —  EVEN AS HE FIGHTS CANCER, BIDEN OWES AMERICANS AN EXPLANATION.  Former President Joe Biden's announcement that he is suffering from advanced metastatic prostate cancer landed awkwardly amid a debate about Biden's physical …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Sam Barron / Newsmax:
Rep. Comer to Newsmax: Who Was Running US Under Biden?
Discussion: Townhall and Blaze Media
Fred Wellman / On Democracy with FPWellman …:
BREAKING: The Constitution at the DOD
Financial Times:
US government bonds drop as worries over Donald Trump's tax bill flare up
Discussion: CNN and Bloomberg
Washington Post:
China to donate $500 million to WHO, stepping into gap left by U.S.
Discussion: Reuters
Debra Cassens Weiss / ABA Journal:
Proposal to limit courts' contempt power, part of spending bill, is ‘terrible idea,’ Chemerinsky says
Washington Post:
A Kansas family farm, barely getting by, grapples with Trump's cuts
Discussion: Raw Story
Alex Roarty / NOTUS:
Jared Golden Trails Paul LePage in a New GOP Poll
Discussion: The Maine Wire
 Earlier Items: 
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
The Spanish Historical Lesson
Cas Mudde / The Guardian:
The real story isn't young men supposedly voting far right. It's what young women are up to
Discussion: Fortune
Financial Times:
Russian-linked Ukrainian politician shot dead in Spain
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The conspiracy theory that broke Dan Bongino
Discussion: New Jersey Online
Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
Trump Is Waging War on the Future
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Trump's $4 trillion deficit bomb
 

 
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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