Trump Posts Video Portraying the Obamas as Apes  —  The video, shared by the president's Truth Social account, contains a brief clip of the faces of former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, on the bodies of apes.  —  President Trump late Thursday night shared a video that contained …

Trump promises Schumer funding for NY tunnel project — if Penn Station and Dulles Airport are renamed after him  —  Donald Trump Senate leadership Aviation news  —  President Donald Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last month that he was finally prepared to drop his freeze …

Trump admin moves to finalize return of Schedule F  —  The Office of Personnel Management is set to finalize regulations implementing President Trump's plan to strip tens of thousands of federal employees of their civil service protections.  —  First developed during Trump's first term …

DHS seeks deportation for Liam Conejo Ramos' family  —  The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.  The 5-year-old returned home this week after he was detained with his father …

JD Vance should have been sold by his mother for drugs, NYT columnist says  —  The vice president celebrated his mother's 10th year of sobriety in April  —  New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie suggested Vice President JD Vance's mother was right to have attempted to sell him for drugs in a Bluesky post on Wednesday.

‘Ignore It.’ How the Elite Consoled Jeffrey Epstein Over His Crimes.  —  Newly released emails show Noam Chomsky, Richard Branson and Steve Bannon commiserated with Epstein about his legal troubles and bad press  —  Since Jeffrey Epstein's death, a parade of powerful people who associated …

GOP's new fear: Losing the Senate in November … But a Democratic takeover of the Senate would be a political earthquake — and neuter his last two years in office. … - Operatives say they've reviewed polling that shows the GOP facing competitive Senate races not just in traditional battlegrounds …

Pardoned January 6 rioter pleads guilty to threatening US Democratic leader Jeffries  —  A January 6, 2021, rioter, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty to a harassment charge after being accused of threatening to kill U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Commission preliminarily finds TikTok's addictive design in breach of the Digital Services Act  —  Today, the European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act for its addictive design.  This includes features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications …

DOJ omitted communication from Bondi, Patel in Epstein files, watchdog says  —  A watchdog group is asking the Justice Department to explain why it hasn't included communication from top Trump administration officials in its release of over 2 million pages tied to Jeffrey Epstein, according to a complaint filed Friday.

Maryland man facing attempted murder charges after showing up at OMB Director Russell Vought's home  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  A Maryland man who said he feared that President Trump's reelection would lead to a “fascist takeover” is facing attempted murder charges …

Russia Says Top Intelligence Official Wounded in Shooting  —  A top Russian military intelligence officer was wounded in an assassination attempt in Moscow, according to the country's Investigative Committee.  —  Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalized after a gunman fired several shots …

Elections overhaul takes center stage in House as hard-right pressure mounts … The issue almost tanked a massive government funding package this week and threatened to extend a four-day partial government shutdown — until Trump intervened and ordered House Republicans to pass the bill without attaching the elections legislation.

‘Gang Stuff’ and ‘Illicit Trysts’: How Epstein Sought Leverage With the Wealthy  —  Jeffrey Epstein drafted letters to men like the retail billionaire Leslie Wexner in which he hinted at shared secrets.  —  Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious sex offender, was drafting a letter to Leslie Wexner …

Facing high Trump tariffs, Africa's leading economy says it's close to a new trade deal with China  —  China and South Africa signed a framework agreement for a new trade deal on Friday as Africa's leading economy looks to other options following the high import tariffs imposed on it by the U.S …

Iran Is at Work on Missile and Nuclear Sites, Satellite Images Show  —  Repairs at key missile sites began soon after they were hit by Israeli and U.S. strikes last year, but work at Iran's nuclear facilities has been slower.  —  Iran appears to have rapidly repaired several ballistic missile …

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Gives Way to Trump's Patriotic Fair  —  The summer festival, held annually since 1967, will not take place as usual on the National Mall, which will instead host the president's Great American State Fair.  —  The Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival …

Twitter is not real life  —  Voters who get their news from Twitter are markedly different in our polls than the median voter  —  Whether you're getting your information from TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, cable news, or elsewhere, platforms are shaping your information diet in ways you may not even notice.

Trump's Online Drugstore Opens for Business  —  TrumpRx is aimed at helping patients use their own money to buy medicines.  But researchers who study drug pricing warned that many patients could pay too much if they use the site.  —  President Trump announced the debut of a website …

Key participant in 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attack that killed 4 Americans is in custody, Bondi says  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A key participant in the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans has been taken into custody and will be prosecuted in their deaths …

Inside Trump's Takeover of D.C.'s Golf Courses  —  In early spring, the founders of the National Links Trust met with a White House adviser to talk about the future of golf in Washington, D.C.  —  The White House adviser, William Doffermyre, who was set to become the solicitor general …

The Finance Industry Is a Grift.  Let's Start Treating It That Way.  —  It's bonus season on Wall Street, and a record-setting 2025 is yielding bigger paychecks than ever for America's investment bankers, thanks to their hard work doing, well, what exactly?

What Americans actually want done about ICE  —  In a letter sent on Feb. 4, 2026, Democratic congressional leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer laid out their 10 key demands for the current fight in Washington over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, and thus Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Why Delia Ramirez thinks DHS needs to be dismantled  —  In solidarity with Minnesota communities being hurt by DHS's ongoing occupation of the Twin Cities, we're donating all new revenue from today's edition of the newsletter to The Energy CENTS Coalition, a St. Paul-based nonprofit that helps struggling folks pay their utility bills.

Raskin probes DOJ after Apple, Google blocked ICE tracking app … “The coercion and censorship campaign, which ultimately targets the users of ICE-monitoring applications, is a clear effort to silence this Administration's critics and suppress any evidence that would expose the Administration's lies …

Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together?  —  With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray  —  Happy Friday.  We made it.  This is Adam Wren.  Get in touch.  —  WAITING FOR A CALL: The race to determine who'll likely be the newest member of Congress is too close to call as of this morning.

US government to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities in Europe  —  State department grants to spread ‘American values’ are part of Washington's 250th anniversary celebrations  —  The US state department is set to fund Maga-aligned think-tanks and charities across Europe …

FBI invites state election officials to an ‘unusual’ briefing on the midterms  —  The invitation comes amid growing tensions between state and federal officials over elections as President Donald Trump calls to “nationalize the voting.”  — ADD NBC NEWS TO GOOGLE  —  Listen to this article with a free account

Who entered Epstein's jail tier the night of his death?  Newly released video logs appear to contradict official accounts.  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  Newly released Department of Justice documents show that investigators reviewing surveillance footage from the night of Jeffrey Epstein's death observed …

DHS watchdog details extensive probes into Trump's immigration crackdown … The spate of investigations comes as the Trump administration faces an uproar from Democrats and a growing number of Republicans over its immigration enforcement operations in several states, which have at times turned violent.

In Greenland's anxious capital, a show of solidarity from Canada and other allies … NUUK, Greenland — Canada will open a new consulate in Greenland on Friday, a show of diplomatic support as rattled Nordic islanders there react to President Donald Trump's aggressive rhetoric about acquiring their homeland.

Can Embattled Women's and Gender Studies Programs Survive?  —  Scholars say recent Republican-led attacks on the field are nothing new, but nonetheless alarming.  —  Texas A&M University's move last week to close its women's and gender studies program is highlighting the longstanding vulnerabilities …

Trump's Immigration Policy Is 100 Years Old … The American public is now finding out what Donald Trump and his team really meant when they promised mass deportations — the upending of communities in a ferocious effort to ferret out every last undocumented person in the country, terrifying people of legal status along the way.