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9:30 AM ET, July 18, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Wall Street Journal:
Jeffrey Epstein's Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album.  One Was From Donald Trump.  —  The leather-bound book was compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell.  The president says the letter ‘is a fake thing.’  —  It was Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday, and Ghislaine Maxwell was preparing a special gift to mark the occasion.
RELATED:
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Trump's WSJ Epstein Fury … On Thursday, anticipation rippled through political and media circles as insiders awaited a potentially explosive Wall Street Journal story examining Donald Trump's ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein.  The article, said to be in the works for days …
Meredith Kile / People:
Ex-Casino Boss Claims Trump and ‘Best Friend’ Jeffrey Epstein Were Once Caught Bringing Underage Girls to Casino Floor  —  A former executive at Trump's Atlantic City casino told CNN that the duo brought three girls to the gambling floor who were not yet 21.  The White House is calling his story “fabricated”
Discussion: New Republic
Rolling Stone:
Team Trump Was on ‘F-cking Warpath’ to Kill Story About Salacious Letter to Epstein  —  The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump wrote a birthday note to his “pal” about how they have “certain things in common”  —  Donald Trump wrote a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s …
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Trump's approval hits new low as Epstein pressure mounts  —  This is one of those classic weeks in a Trump presidency where too many stories are moving too fast for an individual writer to keep up.  There are new tariffs, expansion of deportation operations, a will-he-or-won't-he dance …
Discussion: MSNBC
Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Trump Tells Bondi to Seek Release of Epstein Grand Jury Testimony  —  The attorney general plans to ask a court to release the papers.  But even if the request succeeds, it would fall far short of critics' demands to release all investigative materials.  —  President Trump announced Thursday night …
Newsweek:
Trump Responds After Report on Birthday Letter to Jeffrey Epstein  —  President Donald Trump threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal over a news article published on Thursday saying he sent a letter to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Epstein's 50th birthday.  —  The Context
Michael Gold / New York Times:
House Republicans Dangle Possible Vote on Epstein Files, After Voter Backlash  —  The House Rules Committee laid the groundwork for an eventual vote to call for release of the Epstein files, reflecting Republican uneasiness with the president's refusal to divulge information from the investigation.
Cameron Adams / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Sketchy Epstein Lie Instantly Exposed  —  INK-CRIMINATING  —  Turns out there are plenty of examples of Trump doing the exact thing he claims to have never done.  —  Donald Trump distanced himself from claims he sent a spicy, signed drawing of a naked woman to Jeffrey Epstein by insisting that he never drew pictures.
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Trump and Epstein had a relationship, but there's no evidence of Trump wrongdoing
Discussion: The Post Millennial and CNBC
Douglas Murray / New York Post:
How many voters really care about Jeffrey Epstein?
Discussion: Reuters and CNN
Charisma Madarang / Rolling Stone:
Trump Claims He ‘Never Wrote a Picture in My Life.’ He Actually Drew Plenty of Them
Discussion: USA Today
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
MAGA's Epstein Fault Line
Politico:   Playbook: ‘Another wonderful secret’
Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:
Trump isn't interested in naming a special counsel for the Jeffrey Epstein case, White House says
Washington Post:
Trump tells Justice Dept. to seek release of Epstein grand jury testimony
Discussion: Al Jazeera
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Scoop: Why Dems didn't try to thwart Trump's funding clawback  —  House Democrats passed up what appeared to be a golden opportunity to block a bill codifying $9 billion in DOGE cuts to public broadcasting and foreign aid.  In leadership's telling, victory was never a real possibility.
Discussion: Punchbowl News
RELATED:
NBC News:
Trump's cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid clear Congress  —  The $9 billion package passed the House and the Senate with only Republican votes through the rarely used “rescissions” process.  Trump is now expected to sign it into law.  —  WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House voted 216-213 …
Washington Post:
White House defends handling of Epstein files, chides press for coverage
Zoë Richards / NBC News:
Trump directs Bondi to seek release of ‘pertinent’ grand jury testimony in Epstein case
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CBS to Cancel ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Citing ‘Financial Decision’  —  TV's ongoing problems with late night have come for Stephen Colbert, with CBS announcing Thursday that it plans to end his “Late Show” after the next TV season, citing a “financial decision.”
Terrence McCoy / Washington Post:
Spurred by Bolsonaro's son, Trump mulls sanctions on Brazilian judge  —  If implemented, the sanctions against supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes would dramatically escalate a widening feud between the United States and Brazil.  —  Summary  —  RIO DE JANEIRO — A son …
Discussion: El País, Bloomberg and Foreign Policy
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Bolsonaro Ordered to Wear Ankle Monitor After Police Search
Discussion: Reuters
Selena Simmons-Duffin / NPR:
ACA health insurance will cost the average person 75% more next year, research shows  —  Health insurance premiums are going way up next year for people who buy their insurance on Healthcare.gov or the state-based marketplaces, according to an analysis out Friday.
Brooke Shafer / The Hill:
ICE will soon have nation's Medicaid data: What to know  — Agreement will allow ICE officials access to 79M patients' data  — Information includes addresses, racial information and more  — Opponents concerned over data privacy, civil rights issues
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Trump administration hands over Medicaid recipients' personal data, including addresses, to ICE
Andreas Kluth / Bloomberg:
The State Department Upheaval Makes China Great Again  —  Never before has a country forfeited so much soft power with so little justification amid such intense competition with a rival.  —  She had not seen the axe coming for her specifically, one Foreign Service Officer told me.
Miriam Waldvogel / The Hill:
How will PBS/NPR cuts impact your local stations?  —  Congressional Republicans stripped more than $1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) this week, a move that could force local radio and television stations to consolidate, cut services or shutter altogether, particularly in rural areas.
Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Asks for 1-Day Sentence for Ex-Officer Convicted in Breonna Taylor Raid  —  The move was a stunning reversal of Biden-era efforts to address racial disparities in local law enforcement.  —  The Justice Department's civil rights chief has asked a federal judge to sentence …
RELATED:
Cameron Peters / Vox:
DOJ seeks a single-day prison sentence for an officer convicted in the Breonna Taylor raid
Discussion: New York Times
Emily Davies / Washington Post:
White House shares diagnosis in rare acknowledgment of Trump's age  —  Trump has chronic venous insufficiency, White House physician says, a diagnosis common in people over 70.  —  The White House on Thursday said that President Donald Trump has been diagnosed with a mild but chronic illness related …
RELATED:
Betsy Klein / CNN:
Trump diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency following leg swelling
Associated Press:
For Sale: Trump is leveraging power of his office to reap profits for family businesses  —  If one theme has emerged in President Donald Trump's second term, it's this: He's leveraged the power of his office for personal gain unlike anyone before in history.
Associated Press:
Most US adults think the GOP tax bill will help the wealthy and harm the poor, AP-NORC poll finds  —  Republican elected officials are promoting their recently passed tax and spending bill as a win for working Americans, but a new survey shows that Americans broadly see it as a win for the wealthy.
Discussion: Salon
Wall Street Journal:
White House Prepares Executive Order Targeting ‘Woke AI’  —  Order would be one of several expected to outline Trump's vision for winning AI race with China  —  White House officials are preparing an executive order targeting tech companies with what they see as “woke” artificial-intelligence models …
more at Techmeme »
ABC News:
Unreleased Epstein files include logbooks for private island, records show  —  The Department of Justice released an index of the evidence earlier this year.  —  Jeffrey Epstein in court in West Palm Beach, Fla., July 30, 2008.  —  Uma Sanghvi/The Palm Beach Post via AP
Discussion: Alternet.org
David R. Lurie / Public Notice:
The emerging coup  —  Lawless authoritarian regimes don't give up power willingly. … 👇  —  Six months into the second Trump administration, two things are becoming clear: First, the president remains a nearly entirely non-strategic actor, motivated only by an abiding desire …
 
 
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 More Items: 
New York Times:
'Democrats Don't Need to Become G.O.P. Lite'
Alex Thompson / Axios:
How trolling Trump became a strategy for Newsom
Jan Wolfe / Reuters:
US judge weighs putting new block on Trump's birthright citizenship order
Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:
Debate Ignites at U.S. School Over Netanyahu's Hall of Fame Status
Mike Fox / MSNBC:
ICE detentions are an affront to the Fourth Amendment — and we're all paying the price
Wall Street Journal:
How Sam Altman Outfoxed Elon Musk to Become Trump's AI Buddy
New York Times:
Where Congress's Cuts Threaten Access to PBS and NPR
Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Scoop: Trump's new Alcatraz could cost $2 billion
 Earlier Items: 
Corky Siemaszko / NBC News:
Rep. Jim Jordan faces deposition about OSU sex abuse scandal
Discussion: The Independent and MSNBC
The White House:
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Creates New Classification of Federal Employee to Help Serve the American People
Discussion: The Hill and Washington Examiner
Shane Harris / The Atlantic:
Former Intel Chief Banned From Dog's Graduation Ceremony
Discussion: Raw Story
US Department of Justice:
Former Voice of America Employee Indicted for Threatening Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Fascism For First Time Founders
Politico:
Maurene Comey warns her former colleagues: ‘Fear is the tool of the tyrant’
 

 
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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