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1:50 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: New Republic, Raw Story and 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 …
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
FBI agents were told to ‘flag’ any Epstein records that mentioned Trump, Sen. Durbin says  — FBI agents assigned to review files in the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein were instructed to “flag” any documents that mentioned President Donald Trump, Sen. Richard Durbin said
Discussion: US Newsper
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
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
America Is a Good Place and Worth Fighting For  —  1. Enigmas and Secrets  —  Before we start, a few thoughts about the WSJ story on Trump's alleged letter to Jeffrey Epstein.  —  Trump has three possible defenses:  — The letter doesn't exist.  — The letter is a fake.
Charlie Sykes / To the Contrary:
Trump's Love Letter to Jeffrey Epstein
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:   Nearly All The Trump II Depredations Run Through DOJ
Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Trump Tells Bondi to Seek Release of Epstein Grand Jury Testimony
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
As Trump threatens the WSJ over new Epstein report, his ‘picture’ claim looks sketchy
Newsweek:
Trump Responds After Report on Birthday Letter to Jeffrey Epstein
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:
NBC News:
Public broadcasters say GOP funding cuts could be ‘devastating’ to local media and make Americans less safe
Discussion: Raw Story and KPNX
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:
Alan Sepinwall / Rolling Stone:
Politics, Not Performance, Killed ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’
Elizabeth Crisp / The Hill:
Trump: ‘I absolutely love’ that Colbert ‘got fired’
Inae Oh / Mother Jones:
Colbert's Cancellation Is a Dark Warning
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.
RELATED:
Berkeley Lovelace Jr / NBC News:
Cost of Obamacare expected to soar as subsidies expire and insurers hike premiums  —  People who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act could see increases of more than 75% each month, one expert said.  —  People who get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act …
Discussion: CNN, Forbes, The Hill, WFAA-TV, CBS News and KFF
Anna Wilde Mathews / Wall Street Journal:
Obamacare Insurers Seek Double-Digit Premium Hikes Next Year
Discussion: Forbes and KFF
Reuters:
El Salvador to send detained Venezuelans to Caracas in exchange for Americans held in Venezuela, sources say  —  El Salvador's government will send detained Venezuelans to Caracas in exchange for Americans held in Venezuela, two U.S. government officials told Reuters on Friday.
Discussion: Bloomberg and Newsweek
RELATED:
ProPublica:   He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared.
Reuters:   El Salvador to send detained Venezuelans to Caracas in prison swap for Americans, sources say
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.
Génesis Miranda Miramontes / NBC Los Angeles:
3 deputies killed after explosion reported at East LA sheriff's training facility  —  At least three deputies were killed after an explosion was reported early Friday at an LA County Sheriff's Department training facility in East Los Angeles.  —  The explosion is believed to have occurred …
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.
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 …
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:
Trump appointees pushed more marble in Fed building renovation White House now attacks  —  President Donald Trump has looked to the marble finishes and hefty price tag of the Federal Reserve headquarters to claim grounds to fire Chair Jerome Powell, with whom he has tussled for years over interest rates.
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.
Discussion: Fox Business
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.
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
White House struggles to defend Trump's ‘Unabomber’ anecdote amid ridicule  —  A reporter asked Karoline Leavitt about a weird anecdote the president shared this week about his uncle, MIT and Ted Kaczynski.  It didn't go well.  —  Donald Trump was in Pennsylvania this week …
Discussion: Alternet.org
 
 
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 More Items: 
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
Third Biden aide refuses to answer Oversight questions: Comer
Reuters:
Trump loyalist Katie Miller crosses battle lines to continue work for Elon Musk
Discussion: Raw Story
Samantha Cole / 404 Media:
White House Partners With PragerU to Make AI-Slopified Founding Fathers
New York Times:
Congress Just Gave Away Spending Power to Trump
Discussion: OutsideTheBeltway
Nikki McCann Ramirez / Rolling Stone:
‘Five-Alarm Fire’: Texas Dem Sounds Off on Trump's Bid to Gerrymander Midterms
Discussion: CBS News, Truthout and New York Times
 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
Brooke Shafer / The Hill:
ICE will soon have nation's Medicaid data: What to know
Discussion: USA Today, Wired and NBC News
Mike Fox / MSNBC:
ICE detentions are an affront to the Fourth Amendment — and we're all paying the price
Andreas Kluth / Bloomberg:
The State Department Upheaval Makes China Great Again
ABC News:
Unreleased Epstein files include logbooks for private island, records show
Discussion: Alternet.org
Meredith Kile / People:
Ex-Casino Boss Claims Trump and ‘Best Friend’ Jeffrey Epstein Were Once Caught Bringing Underage Girls to Casino Floor
Discussion: Mediaite and New Republic
 

 
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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