Playbook: Vance's stealth mission  —  With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco  —  Good morning.  It's Monday.  This is Adam Wren.  Get in touch.  —  In today's Playbook ...  — If you want to understand Trump's Washington, you need to understand Vance's place in it.

Trump fumes as Epstein scandal dominates headlines, overshadows agenda  —  The White House and Justice Department's response to the crisis has been driven by no clear strategy other than asking the country to forget it and move on, multiple people close to the situation told The Post.

US senator wants Musk to block use of Starlink by financial fraud groups in Southeast Asia  —  A Democratic senator on Monday urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to block transnational criminal groups in Southeast Asia from using Starlink satellite internet service to commit fraud against Americans.

Trump could pardon Ghislaine Maxwell.  Here's why he probably won't.  —  The president has shown he likes to pardon people who will get him good press — not bad press.  —  One of the biggest questions people were asking after Department of Justice officials met with Ghislaine Maxwell …

Trump has Hegseth's back.  Some of Hegseth's allies worry it won't last. … To President Donald Trump, it doesn't matter much.  —  When it comes to the embattled secretary, the White House continues to stand by Hegseth.  Despite controversy after controversy, bad headline after bad headline …

This construction project was on time and on budget.  Then came ICE.  —  Under a broiling Alabama sky a frustrated Robby Robertson, a construction site superintendent, surveys an 84,000 square foot, mostly built recreation center close to the Gulf coast port city of Mobile.  —  The site is eerily quiet.

The Real Reason for Zohran's Success Should Rattle National Democrats … Despite being mired in a cutthroat New York mayoral campaign, Zohran Mamdani recently released a video announcing that he was taking a vacation.  A vacation, that is, in his childhood home of Uganda.

Judges Continue to Block Trump Policies Following Supreme Court Ruling  —  Even with new curbs on their powers, district judges have found ways to broadly halt some administration actions  —  WASHINGTON—When the Supreme Court issued a blockbuster decision in June limiting the authority …

What Happens When Doctors Can't Trust the Government?  —  The other day I was talking to one of my patients about her vaccinations, and I noticed that she hadn't had a Covid-19 vaccine since the early days of the pandemic.  “The virus has changed so much since then,” I told her, “so we recommend that you get the current vaccine—

Voters Welcome Immigration Curbs but Say Tactics Go Too Far, WSJ Poll Finds  —  Most Americans support Trump's crackdown but dislike sending immigrants to prisons in other countries  —  A majority of Americans remain supportive of President Trump's goal of cracking down on illegal immigration …

Trump Weighs Whether to Let Taiwan Leader Transit Through US  —  The Trump administration is debating whether to allow a planned US stopover by Taiwan's leader next week as concerns mount that it could derail trade talks with China and a potential summit with President Xi Jinping, according to people familiar with the matter.

Israel's Zones of Denial  —  Amid national euphoria over the bombing of Iran—and the largely ignored devastation in Gaza—a question lurks: What is the country becoming?  —  One night, not long after a ceasefire between Israel and Iran took hold, I was sitting at the bar of a crowded restaurant north …

Senate Democrats urge U.S. to stop funding GHF, resume support for U.N. food distribution in Gaza as more starve  —  A group of Democratic senators led by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is urging the Trump administration to suspend American financial support …

NYC's 'We're With Colbert' rally for late-night host is a bust with just 20 protesters  —  What a joke.  —  A Big Apple rally in support of on-his-way-out “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert drew fewer than two dozen people Sunday — with even the NYPD cops on scene quickly calling it a day since …

Georgia Republican Mike Collins Joins 2026 Field to Challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff  —  Georgia Republican Mike Collins said Monday that he will join the field challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in the state the GOP has named as their top target to add a Senate seat in 2026.

Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97  —  A mathematician by training, he acquired a devoted following with songs that set sardonic lyrics to music that was often maddeningly cheerful.  —  Tom Lehrer, the Harvard-trained mathematician whose wickedly iconoclastic songs …

Colorado lawmaker says Gabbard has become ‘weapon’ for Trump … “There have been four investigations including a bipartisan Senate investigation led under the first Trump administration in part by Marco Rubio that is very clear on these findings,” he said, referencing Trump's secretary of state.