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12:25 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:
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 and Newsweek
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
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 …
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
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
Stephen Fowler / NPR:
Trump repeats threat to sue ‘Wall Street Journal’ after its report on his Epstein ties
Joe Walsh / CBS News:
Trump orders Bondi to seek release of Jeffrey Epstein-related grand jury testimony
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:
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
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
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 …
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.
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 …
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
Discussion: Wired, NBC News, Breitbart, El País and Salon
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
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: Mediaite and New Republic
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: 
Bill Grueskin / Columbia Journalism Review:
EschewAnon  —  Nixing the nameless government spokesman.  Plus: Poignant coverage from Texas …
Associated Press:
Trump appointees pushed more marble in Fed building renovation White House now attacks
Discussion: Associated Press
ProPublica:
He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared.
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
 Earlier Items: 
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
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 »
Wall Street Journal:
White House Prepares Executive Order Targeting ‘Woke AI’
more at Techmeme »
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is considering deep budget cuts to its metaverse efforts in 2026, potentially as high as 30% and most likely including layoffs as early as January

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Two studies suggest AI chatbots can shift political views more effectively than TV campaign ads, especially by presenting many claims, regardless of accuracy
 
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