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12:05 PM 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:
David Wildstein / New Jersey Globe:
Habba tells staff she loves her job, hopes to stay as she awaits judicial meeting (Updated)  —  U.S. Attorney Alina Habba told her staff on Thursday that her tenure as a federal prosecutor could come to an end on Tuesday when she hits the 120-day limit for appointments made by the U.S. Attorney General …
Discussion: NewsMax.com
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: New York Magazine, Newsweek and Reuters
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 …
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 …
Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
An Enigma Wrapped in a Wonderful Secret  —  Hey, look, former Trump lawyer Alina Habba is apparently about to be out as U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.  Seems good!  Now on to the big stuff.  Happy Friday.  —  ‘We Have Certain Things In Common, Jeffrey’  —  by Andrew Egger
Discussion: CNN and Blaze Media
Meredith Kile / People:
Ex-Casino Boss Claims Trump and ‘Best Friend’ Jeffrey Epstein Were Once Caught Bringing Underage Girls to Casino Floor
Discussion: New Republic
Stephen Fowler / NPR:
Trump repeats threat to sue ‘Wall Street Journal’ after its report on his Epstein ties
Newsweek:
Trump Responds After Report on Birthday Letter to Jeffrey Epstein
Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing / Politico:
Trump rails against ‘NOTHING’ Epstein case after WSJ report
Joe Walsh / CBS News:
Trump orders Bondi to seek release of Jeffrey Epstein-related grand jury testimony
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.”
RELATED:
Elizabeth Crisp / The Hill:
Trump: ‘I absolutely love’ that Colbert ‘got fired’  —  President Trump said Friday morning that he was thrilled by the news that CBS is canceling the decade-running “Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”  —  “I absolutely love that Colbert' got fired,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Elizabeth Crisp / The Hill:
Democrats: Public ‘deserves to know’ if Colbert was canceled for political reasons  —  Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) blasted CBS for announcing it will cancel comedian and host Stephen Colbert's “Late Show,” pressing for more transparency on the decision.
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: NewsMax.com and Punchbowl News
RELATED:
NBC News:
Trump's cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid clear Congress
New York Times:
Congress Just Gave Away Spending Power to Trump
Discussion: OutsideTheBeltway
New York Times:
Where Congress's Cuts Threaten Access to PBS and NPR  —  President Trump's proposal to eliminate federal funding for public broadcasters threatens scores of radio and TV stations across the United States that air PBS and NPR programs.
RELATED:
Tom Jones / Poynter:
Defunding NPR and PBS passed the Senate — and it's a direct hit to rural America  —  If passed by the House, the cuts will jeopardize emergency alerts and local news access for millions.  —  As feared, President Donald Trump, with the help of Congress, is making good on his threat …
RELATED:
Anna Wilde Mathews / Wall Street Journal:
Obamacare Insurers Seek Double-Digit Premium Hikes Next Year
Discussion: KFF and Forbes
Eric Katz / GovExec.com:
Trump creates ‘Schedule G’ to add more political appointees to agencies top ranks  —  The new, non-career employees will serve in policy-making roles and add “horsepower” to carrying out the administration's agenda, White House says.  —  President Trump created another new category …
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.
David R. Lurie / Public Notice:
The emerging coup  —  🗣️ Paid subscribers make Public Notice possible.  If you appreciate our fiercely independent coverage of American politics, please sign up and support us.  👇  —  Six months into the second Trump administration, two things are becoming clear …
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: Reuters, El País and Bloomberg
RELATED:
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Scoop: Trump's new Alcatraz could cost $2 billion … - A “supermax” prison complex that would cost more than $2 billion. … - A scaled-back prison that would cost $1 billion and not occupy the entire island.  — Putting the project out to bid for private prison contractors to build and operate.
Ellie Wolfe / The Baltimore Banner:
Conservative legal group with Trump ties sets its sights on Hopkins medical school  —  A conservative legal group founded by a member of the Trump administration has filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice against the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, alleging racial discrimination.
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 and Scripting News
Shawn Cohen / Daily Mail:
EXCLUSIVE: ICE Barbie Kristi Noem makes telling move after her cozy living arrangement with Corey Lewandowski is exposed  —  Donald Trump's Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has moved from her private residence into a U.S. military installation, after her cozy living arrangement …
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: The Hill and FOX 13 Tampa Bay
 
 
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 More Items: 
Department of Homeland Security:
Biden-Appointed Judge Ignores Biological Reality and the Rule of Law, Orders Illegal Alien Released
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Leah Douglas / Reuters:
US farm agency fires 70 foreign researchers following national security review
Discussion: IJR
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
White House struggles to defend Trump's ‘Unabomber’ anecdote amid ridicule
John D. Hutson / The Bulwark:
The Dangerous Plan to Turn Military Lawyers Into Immigration Judges
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Vile, Corrupt Attack on Adam Schiff Is Already Backfiring
Sawyer Loftus / ProPublica:
The USDA Wouldn't Let Her Give Up Her House When She Couldn't Pay Her Mortgage. Instead, It Crushed Her With Debt.
Discussion: Bangor Daily News
 Earlier Items: 
New York Times:
The Seeds of Democratic Revival Have Already Been Sown
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
Discussion: The Forward
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
more at Techmeme »
Corky Siemaszko / NBC News:
Rep. Jim Jordan faces deposition about OSU sex abuse scandal
Discussion: The Hill, 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
Wall Street Journal:
White House Prepares Executive Order Targeting ‘Woke AI’
more at Techmeme »
 

 
From Mediagazer:

New York Post:
Leaked letter: a group of “prominent journalists” at CBS News are preparing a petition urging David Ellison to uphold editorial independence at the network

Max Tani / Semafor:
Ezra Klein, Ben Shapiro, Steve Bannon, Vanity Fair's Mark Guiducci, Puck's Matt Belloni, Verge's Nilay Patel, and others on what media leaders got wrong in 2025

The Hollywood Reporter:
Among media stocks in 2025, WBD surged 172%, Fox jumped 47.3%, Paramount Skydance rose 29%, Netflix was up just 5.7%, and Disney was up 2.25%; Comcast fell ~20%
 
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