memeorandum: Playbook: Six months in (Zack Stanton/Politico)

2:40 PM ET, July 20, 2025

Top Items:

Consumed by Epstein, Trump has lost ground on the economy and immigration — When he was sworn in, Trump promised a new “Golden Age.” It's clear that, six months into his presidency, the public isn't buying all the hype. — Just now — President Donald Trump spent much of last week trying …

Natalie Allison / Washington Post:

Trump survived many scandals, but the Epstein story poses a new test — The MAGA base has rallied as they see him under attack. The White House is trying to change the subject. — Just now — Nearly two weeks after President Donald Trump and his administration announced they had nothing …

Zack Stanton / Politico:

Playbook: Six months in — With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco — Happy Sunday. This is Zack Stanton. Get in touch. — THE CONVERSATION: Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) is a lawyer, former state attorney general and a skilled navigator of the old — and new — wings of the Republican Party.

Anthony Salvanto / CBS News:

CBS News poll finds support for Trump's deportation program falls; Americans call for more focus on prices — After six months that included a string of achievements on President Trump's legislative goals, views of his second term are increasingly defined by the difference between his political base …

Discussion: USA Today, New York Post and Rolling Stone

Rachel Scully / The Hill:
Trump touts six-month mark: US is now ‘hottest’ and ‘most respected country anywhere’

Discussion: Axios, Fox News, New York Post, NewsNation, Salon, Mediaite, Raw Story and NewsMax.com, more at Mediagazer »

Graeme Massie / The Independent:

Trump once hosted party for ‘young women’ where Epstein was the only guest, says report — President under pressure to release all files related to his former friend Epstein — Donald Trump once hosted a party with “young women” where the disgraced late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein “was the only other guest,” according to a report.

Discussion: Raw Story

Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:

Klobuchar rebuffs Trump's efforts to fault Dems in Epstein case … Backlash — largely from inside Trump's MAGA base — teed off when the White House announced in early July that a Department of Justice and FBI review had found no evidence of an incriminating client list connected to Epstein.

Discussion: USA Today and The Hill

New York Times:

An Accuser's Story Suggests How Trump Might Appear in the Epstein Files … Maria Farmer in August 2019. Ms. Farmer said in an interview with The New York Times that she twice told the F.B.I. about a troubling encounter she had with Donald J. Trump, and about how close he was with Jeffrey Epstein.Andrea Morales for The New York Times

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

G.O.P. Push Behind Trump Agenda Has Congress in an Uproar … Republicans' relentless marathon to force President Trump's agenda through Congress over objections from Democrats and some in their own ranks is taking a toll on the institution and its members, prompting tempers to boil …

CNN:
As Trump pushes Texas takeover in fight for House, Democrats plot their counterpunch

Discussion: Breitbart, Salon and Off the Kuff

NBC News:
Bipartisan government funding is at risk of dying in Trump's Washington

Discussion: Washington Times and Washington Examiner

Al Weaver / The Hill:
The 5 Senate seats most likely to flip

Discussion: NewsMax.com

Lautaro Grinspan / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

‘Direct retaliation’: Hispanic journalist detained by ICE speaks out — In an exclusive interview from an ICE detention facility, Mario Guevara talks about his month behind bars and his once positive feelings toward Donald Trump. — Mario Guevara spent the bulk of his days as a journalist …

Discussion: Al Jazeera

George Chidi / The Guardian: Atlanta journalist fights deportation from Ice jail despite dropped charges: 'I'm seeing what absolute power can do'

Associated Press: Volunteers flock to immigration courts to support migrants arrested in the hallways

Will Neal / The Daily Beast:

GOP Senator Blames ‘Radical’ Leftists for Trump's Cankles — CHOLESTEROL? NO, COMMUNISM! — Tommy Tuberville says even at the ripe old age of 79, the president's only ailing because every day's “almost like a fistfight” with pesky liberals. — Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville thinks it's not age …

Miriam Waldvogel / The Hill:
Tuberville says Trump health issues exacerbated by ‘fighting the radicals’

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Associated Press:

Officials say 85 Palestinians seeking aid are killed in Gaza as Israel widens evacuation orders — At least 85 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach food at locations across Gaza on Sunday, the territory's Health Ministry said, on the deadliest day yet for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war.

Discussion: New York Times, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, WFAA-TV, israelhayom.com, RTÉ, Semafor and The Hill

Greg Olear / PREVAIL:

Sunday Pages: “Superman” — A film by James Gunn — I first saw the trailer for the new James Gunn Superman a few months ago, during the NBA playoffs. My first reaction was an eye-roll and a dismissive, “Do we really need another Superman? Really? Why?”

Tomas Weber / Financial Times:

What happens once we spot the asteroid that will hit Earth? … In January, at a US Space Force Base in the Rocky Mountains near Colorado Springs, an operator received an unusual email. It was an alert — but not one triggered by the military's network of space-based sensors.

Axios:

“He's a madman”: Trump's team frets about Netanyahu after Syria strikes — As smoke and debris swirled over the Syrian presidential palace, the chatter in the West Wing grew louder: Benjamin Netanyahu is out of control. … He bombs everything all the time," one White House official told Axios, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

Discussion: Mediaite and New York Sun

Ezra Klein / New York Times:

Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another — It's a tense time in the Jewish family group chats. The consensus that held American Jewry together for generations is breaking down. That consensus, roughly, was this: What is good for Israel is good for the Jews. Anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism.

Rachel Wells / Nashville Banner:

Pregnant Mother in Tennessee Denied Care for Being Unmarried — The 2025 Medical Ethics Defense Act allows physicians to deny care to patients whose lifestyles they disagree with — Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email … Last Thursday, at a town hall in Jonesborough …

New York Times:

After a Chaotic Start, a U.S. Attorney's Time May Be Running Out — Alina Habba, President Trump's choice to run the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey, has pursued investigations against Democrats. Her tenure has damaged morale inside the office. — Lawyers for Eliyahu Weinstein were faced with a difficult situation.

Justin Baragona / The Independent:

JD Vance flew to Montana for secret meeting with Rupert Murdoch and Fox News executives — A source familiar with the trip told The Independent that the vice president spoke to both Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, as well as a group of executives from the right-wing network

Kelly Rissman / The Independent:

ICE secretly deported Pennsylvania grandfather, 82, after he lost his Green Card — ‘I can see all my family is in pain right now,’ Luis Leon granddaughter said — The family of an 82-year-old Chilean national feared he was dead for weeks before discovering that he had been detained by ICE …

Discussion: The Guardian, Crooks and Liars, Mediaite and Morning Call