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.

Trump rejects Netanyahu's claim that kids in Gaza aren't starving  —  President Trump said Monday that he disagrees with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that there is no starvation in Gaza. … Later he said, “There is real starvation in Gaza - you can't fake that.”

Israel Says It Is Pausing Fighting in Parts of Gaza to Allow Aid In  —  A deadly hunger crisis is spreading across the enclave  —  KEREM SHALOM, Israel—Israel announced a tactical pause in military activity in parts of the Gaza Strip and the establishment of safe routes for humanitarian aid …

A Maine Resort Town Feels the Pressure of Trump's Immigration Crackdown  —  Wells, like many U.S. tourist spots that rely on foreign labor, is fearful of immigration raids.  The local police department's agreement to collaborate with federal agents only adds to the anxiety.

The Supreme Court Owes the Country Explanations for Its Big Decisions  —  Federal judges are not elected by the public.  Nor are they supposed to make decisions based on their ideological preferences.  Our political system instead vests them with the power to decide whether the president …

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.

Jay Leno Decries Political Partisanship in Late Night: ‘Why Shoot for Just Half an Audience?’  —  Jay Leno — who hosted NBC's Tonight Show for more than two decades — believes late night TV is the wrong place for political partisanship.  —  In a recent interview with David Trulio …

On Epstein, Democrats have Mike Johnson running scared  —  🗣️ Paid subscribers keep Public Notice free.  If you appreciate our fiercely independent coverage of American politics, please sign up and support us.  👇  —  Last week, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson recessed the House early.

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.

Western liberalism's waning star  —  Lack of conviction and intolerance are character defects that augur badly for centrist and centre-left parties  —  The laws of hydraulics are broken.  Donald Trump's approval ratings have dropped to second-term lows yet the Democratic party's have fallen even further.

How Axios rebranded conservative ideology as objectivity  —  The biggest lie in media is the one that it tells about itself.  —  Journalists at many mainstream media publications insist that their coverage is objective and unbiased.  This isn't true.  —  Two of the biggest purveyors …

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—

Trump 2.0 doesn't like drama.  So why's he swallowing so many bad headlines about Hegseth? … When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired several members of his inner circle this spring, accusing them of leaking, the White House and top allies rallied behind him.

Trump Says He Will Give Putin New 10-12 Day Truce Deadline  —  US President Donald Trump said he would impose a new deadline of 10-12 days for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to reach a truce with Ukraine, ramping up pressures on Moscow to bring the fighting to a halt.

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 …