Top Items:
Washington Post:
Trump directs Pentagon to test nuclear weapons, just before meeting with China's Xi — The president said he wanted testing to occur “on an equal basis” with Russia and China, raising the pressure on Beijing as he prepared to meet his Chinese counterpart. — GYEONGJU, South Korea …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CBS News, Politico, The Guardian, KRDO, Raw Story, CNBC, New York Times and The Hill
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Katherine Doyle / NBC News:
Trump orders Pentagon to begin testing nuclear weapons ‘immediately’ — The U.S. voluntarily halted nuclear explosive testing in 1992, though it has the ability to resume tests at a site in Nevada. — GYEONGJU, South Korea — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had instructed the Pentagon to …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Guardian, Axios, New York Post, New York Times, Fox News, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Scripps News, France 24, Gizmodo, The Japan Times, Raw Story, WUSA, NewsMax.com and Mediaite
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
ICE and CBP Agents Are Scanning Peoples' Faces on the Street To Verify Citizenship — “You don't got no ID?” a Border Patrol agent in a baseball cap, sunglasses, and neck gaiter asks a kid on a bike. The officer and three others had just stopped the two young men on their bikes during …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Reason, Raw Story and El País
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Aaron Glantz / The Guardian:
Revealed: Pentagon orders states' national guards to form ‘quick reaction forces’ for ‘crowd control’ — Pentagon memo details plan to train over 20,000 national guard members across the US to carry out Trump's order on subduing civil unrest — A top US military official has ordered …
Discussion:
Task & Purpose
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Malcolm Ferguson / New Republic:
Trump DOJ Indicts Congressional Candidate for Protesting ICE … Progressive Democratic congressional candidate and former journalist Kat Abughazaleh was indicted by the Justice Department Wednesday for allegedly preventing a federal officer from “discharging the duties of his office” at the Broadview ICE detention center near Chicago.
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Andrew Solender / Axios:
House candidate Kat Abughazaleh indicted over ICE confrontation
Discussion:
MSNBC, Vox, Fox News, Ace of Spades HQ, The Guardian, Blaze Media, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Evanston RoundTable, Washington Examiner and New York Post
Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
Trump calls Jack Smith a ‘criminal’ who should be in prison in latest attack on his perceived foes — Former special counsel Jack Smith oversaw the two federal criminal indictments against Trump when he was a presidential candidate. — President Donald Trump on Wednesday called …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Just The News, The Federalist, American Greatness, NewsMax.com, The National Pulse and Mediaite
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Ken Dilanian / MSNBC:
Biden Justice Department slow-walked key decisions in Trump legal probes — The picture of a hesitant Justice Department runs contrary to the GOP allegation that the indictments of Trump were the product of a Democrat-led plot. — Acting on a mix of principle and caution …
Discussion:
Axios, One America News Network and Raw Story
CNN:
National Guard orders in DC extended through February 2026 — National Guard troops deployed in Washington, DC, will remain mobilized in the city at least through February 2026, according to people familiar with the guard's orders. — The troops' orders had been expected to lapse at the end …
Discussion:
Home of the Brave and Raw Story
Teddy Grant / The Hill:
Jamie Lee Curtis: Charlie Kirk comments were a ‘mistranslation’ — Actress Jamie Lee Curtis is clearing up comments she made about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination last month. — Curtis told Variety in an interview published Tuesday that her comments about Kirk …
Discussion:
Variety, Breitbart, The Wrap, Megyn Kelly, The Gateway Pundit, Full Feed, NewsMax.com, PinkNews and IJR
Phil Williams / WTVF-TV:
Charges Dropped: Tennessee authorities dismiss charges against man who posted Trump meme — A Tenn. sheriff claimed Larry Bushart refused to take down a meme after being told it was causing fear of school shooting but police video shows there was never any discussion of a school
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Phil Williams / WTVF-TV:
Tennessee sheriff defends jailing liberal activist for posting Trump meme about school shooting
Tennessee sheriff defends jailing liberal activist for posting Trump meme about school shooting
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Times and Talking Points Memo
ABC News:
DOJ places on leave 2 prosecutors who said ‘mob’ of ‘rioters’ carried out Jan. 6 attack — The prosecutors had filed a brief in the case of Taylor Taranto, sources said. — Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Discussion:
Politico, Democracy Docket, NBC News, Law & Crime, CBS News, MSNBC, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, The Western Journal, WUSA, Raw Story, The Hill and UPI
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Connor O'Brien / Politico:
Top Republicans slam Trump administration's troop drawdown in Romania — A pair of senior Republican defense hawks are denouncing a move by the Trump administration to scale back the U.S. military presence in Europe on NATO's eastern edge, saying the decision “sends the wrong signal” to Russia.
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Romanian Ministry …, Cmte Armed Services …, Wall Street Journal, UPI, NewsMax.com, The National Pulse, The Independent, New York Post, NOTUS, Washington Examiner, Task & Purpose, The Hill, France 24, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Newsweek, The Kyiv Independent, Politico and Reuters
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Natasha Bertrand / CNN:
US military withdrawing some troops from Eastern Europe
US military withdrawing some troops from Eastern Europe
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, ABC News, Bloomberg, Metro.co.uk and Reuters
New York Times:
Obamacare Prices Become Public, Highlighting Big Increases — The government website now shows consumers how much their health insurance costs will increase next year, as Congress remains at an impasse over the plans' subsidies. — 1.1k — The Trump administration has released …
Ben Penn / Bloomberg Law:
Jury Acquits Man Accused of Soliciting Trump's Murder on Bluesky — A jury took about two hours Tuesday to acquit a man accused of soliciting President Donald Trump's assassination on social media, a setback for the Justice Department office led by Trump's newly-installed loyalist Lindsey Halligan.
Discussion:
Law & Crime
Zach Everson / Forbes:
Donald Trump Jr.'s Expanding Business: After Joining 2nd New Board, U.S. Contracts Followed — Topline — Unusual Machines is at least the second company that appears to have activated an advisory board specifically to give a Trump a role, placing Donald Trump Jr. on the board in November 2024 …
Ryan Grenoble / HuffPost:
Shock Video Shows ICE Agent Assaulting Woman Who Asked If He's A Good Christian — Hundreds protested Tuesday at an ICE facility in southwest Colorado after agents detained two children on their way to school. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers forcibly detained a father …
Discussion:
The Colorado Sun
Washington Post:
Trump administration uses misleading videos to portray chaos, push deportations … The Department of Homeland Security posted a swaggering montage to social media in August declaring it had triumphed in its takeover of Washington, D.C. It showed footage of federal agents fighting what a DHS official called a …
Discussion:
Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, Gizmodo, The Parnas Perspective, The Verge, The Hill, Mediaite and The Independent
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / New Republic:
It Sure Looks Like Kash Patel Used the FBI's Jet to Go on a Date … FBI Director Kash Patel met his girlfriend at Penn State this past weekend to watch a wrestling match—but his travel to the university stadium appears to have been on the American public's dime.
Discussion:
The Independent, The Bulwark and Raw Story
New York Times:
F.B.I. Opposes Push for Gabbard to Take Lead on Counterintelligence — The F.B.I. made the disclosure in a pointed letter that underscored broader concern over a House bill that would give more authority to Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence.
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
Lee Drutman / Undercurrent Events:
The moderation debate fiddles with 2% while democracy's dimensionality collapses — For months, analysts have been arguing over whether Democrats need to run more “moderates” in order to win more elections. As a data nerd, I find this debate fascinating. But as an alarmed citizen, I find this debate extremely frustrating.
Max Tani / Semafor:
How a London newspaper botched a New York political story — The Scoop — As the New York City mayor's race entered its home stretch this week, a reporter for The Times of London, Bevan Hurley, sent an email to Bill de Blasio. — He wanted to know what the former mayor of New York City thought about the upcoming race.
Washington Post:
Trump nominee at U.S. export bank withdraws amid scrutiny of Russia ties — Bryce McFerran is a former senior executive at a steel-trading business co-owned by one of Russia's richest oligarchs and is married to a member of a Russian family with extensive ties to the Kremlin. — Just now
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications
Jenny Goldsberry / Washington Examiner:
Don Lemon's ‘trans’ insult to Megyn Kelly backfires — Talk show host Don Lemon came under fire online for implying that Megyn Kelly is ugly because “she looks trans.” — Lemon appeared on his own Clip Farmers podcast on Sunday, which branched off from his Don Lemon Show six months ago.
Discussion:
HotAir, New York Post, Daily Mail, Daily Caller News Foundation, TMZ.com, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Blaze Media and New York Daily News
Marc Caputo / Axios:
Exclusive: White House finds 11th-hour shutdown workaround to pay troops — for now … The OMB found: — $2.5 billion from a military housing fund specified in Trump's “big beautiful bill” to continue paying housing allowances for military personnel. — $1.4 billion from the Research …
Discussion:
The Hill
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
John Thune says he will engage ‘pretty soon’ with Democrats about ending shutdown — Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday he expects to engage “pretty soon” with a group of rank-and-file Senate Democrats about ending the 29-day-and-counting government shutdown.
Discussion:
HotAir, Axios, The Daily Caller, RedState, Townhall, PoliticusUSA, The Gateway Pundit, 24sight News, Washington Examiner, Washington Times and UPI
Quinnipiac University Poll:
NYC Mayor's Race: Mamdani 43%, Cuomo 33%, Sliwa 14%, Undecided 6%, Quinnipiac University New York City Poll Finds; Stark Generational Divide Among NYC's Likely Voters — mail_outline — In the final days of the race to become New York City's next mayor, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani leads …
Paul Kirby / BBC:
Centrist liberals head for shock victory in Dutch election, exit poll says — Anna Holligan,Hague correspondent in Leiden — The centrist liberals under Rob Jetten are heading for a dramatic victory, according to the main exit poll, two years after his party languished in fifth place in the last vote.
Discussion:
The Guardian, France 24, Euractiv, Reuters, Associated Press, Politico and The Kyiv Independent
John O'Connor / Associated Press:
Jurors convict Illinois deputy of killing Sonya Massey but can't agree on first-degree murder charge — Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share — A jury on Wednesday convicted an Illinois sheriff's deputy of second-degree murder …
Discussion:
New York Times, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, CBS News, The 19th, FOX 32 Chicago, Chicago Sun Times, The TRiiBE, TMZ.com, Chicago Tribune and abc7NY
Politico:
Karine Jean-Pierre's book tour is non-stop cringe. Her former colleagues can't look away. … Most just hope that she will be ignored, another bad news cycle with a short shelf life that doesn't do lasting damage to an already tarnished brand. — “The truth is that Karine has always …
Discussion:
Daily Caller News Foundation, HotAir and Blaze Media
Riley Beggin / Washington Post:
Report: Government shutdown will cost the economy up to $14 billion — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the longer the government stays closed, the more costly the pause will be. — The U.S. economy will lose between $7 billion and $14 billion because of the federal government shutdown …
Discussion:
NBC News, GovExec.com, Fox Business, UPI, CNBC, The Guardian, Axios, Washington Examiner, RedState, The Hill, Conduit Street, NewsMax.com and Washington Times
US Department of Justice:
10 Arrested on Federal Complaints Charging Them with Committing Violence Against Officers and Property During Anti-ICE Rioting — For Immediate Release — U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California — LOS ANGELES - Law enforcement has arrested a total of 10 defendants federally charged …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Daily Caller News Foundation, RedState and The Daily Caller
Russell Contreras / Axios:
Some evangelicals are “quietly quitting” Trump and MAGA … - “We've gotten more testimonials. … - Some pastors and their followers are angry that Trump's administration has lifted bans on immigration agents going into churches to make arrests. — Others are dismayed by cuts to humanitarian aid programs at home and abroad.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Ron Kampeas / Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
ADL removes ‘Protect Civil Rights’ from website as it narrows its mission amid right-wing attacks — The Anti-Defamation League has removed entirely from the “What We Do” page of its website a section called “Protect Civil Rights.” — The removal eliminated a passage that read …
Discussion:
The Forward
Burgess Everett / Semafor:
Thaw in shutdown talks raises senators' hopes for a deal next week — Senators in both parties — below the leadership level — are starting to see an unmistakable shift that they hope leads to a bipartisan agreement to end the shutdown, perhaps as early as next week, according to more than a dozen sources.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Reuters
Matthew Brown / Associated Press:
Colorado says relocation of Space Command to Alabama is ‘punishment’ for mail-in voting — Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share — Colorado officials filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming the relocation of U.S. Space Command …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, Denver Post, Fox News, Colorado Politics, The Colorado Sun, al.com and KRDO
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
DOJ tried to subpoena an online trans health care provider. A judge quashed it. … “This is not speculation about hidden motives — it is the Administration's explicit agenda,” Whitehead said in his ruling dated Monday and made public on Tuesday. “The Government seeks the 'intended effect …
Discussion:
New York Times, RedState, QueerDoc and Reason
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
Texas sues Tylenol for the dumbest reason — Attorney General Ken Paxton beclowns himself to get Trump to endorse his Senate run — In an unbelievably crowded field, the title of “Most Wretched Republican Bootlicker” is ultimately impossible to determine.
Discussion:
New Republic, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The Business of Fashion and Axios
Zoë Richards / NBC News:
Pete Hegseth says U.S. military carried out another strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific Ocean — The defense secretary's announcement is the 12th known time that the U.S. has conducted strikes on alleged drug traffickers in recent months. — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, CBS News, twitchy.com, KRDO, Fox News and Patterico's Pontifications
