Top Items:
Stephen Fowler / NPR:
Justice Department withheld and removed some Epstein files related to Trump — The Justice Department has withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor, an NPR investigation finds. It also removed some documents from the public database …
RELATED:
The U.S. House Committee on Oversight Feed:
Ranking Member Robert Garcia Statement After Department of Justice Withheld Epstein Files, Includes Allegation President Donald Trump Sexually Abused a Minor — Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform …
Lisa Rubin / MS NOW:
Missing Epstein files include interviews with alleged Trump accuser — The Justice Department has withheld notes and memos reflecting FBI interviews from its release of the Epstein files, including interviews with a woman who accused President Donald Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor, MS NOW has confirmed.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Democrats to probe DOJ's alleged withholding of Epstein files on Trump
Democrats to probe DOJ's alleged withholding of Epstein files on Trump
Discussion:
Raw Story
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Two GOP Reps plan to join Dems in SOTU Epstein protests — At least two House Republicans who have been at the forefront of transparency efforts around the Jeffrey Epstein files are planning to display their support for the late billionaire's accusers during Trump's State of the Union, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
Scripps News, RedState, New Republic and Mercury News
RELATED:
Associated Press:
5 questions heading into Trump's State of the Union address — President Donald Trump says he has a lot to talk about tonight. He's returning to Congress to deliver a State of the Union address at a consequential moment in his presidency, with his approval ratings near an all-time low …
Discussion:
Yahoo News, NBC News, CBS News, Straight Arrow News, Business Insider, The Daily Signal, NPR, Axios, The Contrarian, USA Today, Politico, ABC News, Poynter, KUSA-TV, Associated Press, The.Ink, WCNC-TV, Courthouse News Service, Scripps News, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, The Guardian, HotAir, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Bangor Daily News, MS NOW, Reason, Bloomberg, New York Times, Al Jazeera and Council on Foreign Relations
Will Gottsegen / The Atlantic:
Trump's Chance to Turn Things Around Tonight
Discussion:
CBS News, ABC News, Associated Press and WTTG-TV
Mia McCarthy / Politico:
No. 2 House Democrat won't attend State of the Union
No. 2 House Democrat won't attend State of the Union
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Washington Times, CBS News, Fox News, Axios, The Federalist, Semafor, American Thinker, MeidasTouch News, PoliticusUSA and Breitbart
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Khanna, Massie to sit together during Trump's State of the Union
Khanna, Massie to sit together during Trump's State of the Union
Discussion:
HotAir, Townhall, IJR, Straight Arrow News and NewsMax.com
Lucy Campbell / The Guardian:
Schumer predicts ‘long, painful and tedious’ Trump speech as dozens of Democrats plan to boycott - live
Schumer predicts ‘long, painful and tedious’ Trump speech as dozens of Democrats plan to boycott - live
Discussion:
Editorial Board, Associated Press, Scripps News, WTTG-TV, The Gateway Pundit, NewsMax.com and Fox News
Brian Beutler / Off Message:
Why The State Of The Union Boycotters Have It Right
Why The State Of The Union Boycotters Have It Right
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Daily Signal, Palm Beach Post and El País
John Nichols / The Nation:
Summer Lee Knows the Real State of the Union
Summer Lee Knows the Real State of the Union
Discussion:
The Hill, The Spectator, Raw Story, Newsweek, Fox News, MS NOW, The Guardian and New York Times
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Ahead of State of the Union, Trump's approval falls to new low of 37% — This article reports results from the February 2026 Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll. You can read our previous poll releases here. Subscribers to Strength In Numbers have access to additional tracking visuals and a full archive of crosstabs here.
Discussion:
MS NOW, The Cross Section, Mock Paper Scissors, Newsweek, The Hill and USA Today
RELATED:
Jason Lange / Reuters:
Most Americans say Trump is growing erratic with age, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Most Americans say Trump is growing erratic with age, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Discussion:
NOTUS, Washington Post, The Hill, The Independent and Mediaite
New York Times:
Fresh Off a Supreme Court Loss, Trump Could Face New Challenges on Tariffs — Critics are questioning the legality of the provision President Trump has used to replace his previous slate of tariffs, raising the prospect of yet another legal battle. — Since the Supreme Court last week struck …
Discussion:
Reason, Bloomberg, Breitbart and Council on Foreign Relations
RELATED:
Ana Swanson / New York Times:
Trump's Tariff Goes Into Effect at 10 Percent, Not the 15 Threatened — The change surprised executives and foreign leaders, who had been expecting the 15 percent rate the president announced on Saturday. — A new tariff on most global imports went into effect in the United States …
Discussion:
Atlantic Council, Reuters, CNBC, The Hill, Washington Examiner, MS NOW, News Talk 105.9 and Raw Story
Dan Pfeiffer / The Message Box:
Trump Stole Your Money. He Won't Give It Back.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Forbes, Bloomberg and WTOP News
Carol Leonnig / MS NOW:
Kash Patel's use of jet delayed FBI team's mass shooting response, whistleblower tells top senator — Agents with the FBI's elite evidence response team were delayed in reaching the scene of a mass shooting at Brown University in December because there was no FBI plane available to take them to Rhode Island …
Discussion:
The Hill, Courthouse News Service, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Considers Action Requiring Banks to Collect Citizenship Information — Potential executive order would enlist banks in the Trump administration's illegal immigration crackdown — The Trump administration is weighing a possible executive order or other action …
Discussion:
Dow Jones Newswires, New Republic, Semafor and NewsMax.com
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
This App Warns You if Someone Is Wearing Smart Glasses Nearby — A new hobbyist developed app warns if people nearby may be wearing smart glasses, such as Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, which stalkers and harassers have repeatedly used to film people without their knowledge or consent.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News and AppleInsider
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Tony Gonzales says he will not resign — GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales told reporters Tuesday he will not step down from his seat amid allegations he had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. “I am not going to resign,” the Texas lawmaker said. Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier Tuesday he planned to meet with Gonzales.
RELATED:
Joe Perticone / The Bulwark:
A Republican's Sex Scandal Could Paralyze the House
A Republican's Sex Scandal Could Paralyze the House
Discussion:
CBS News, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, 24sight News, NOTUS and Mediaite
Axios:
Exclusive: Hegseth gives Anthropic until Friday to back down on AI safeguards — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei until Friday evening to give the military unfettered access to its AI model or face harsh penalties, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Politico, The Hill, TechCrunch, NewsMax.com, NPR, MS NOW, Associated Press, Mediaite, Federal News Network, Mercury News and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
D.O.J. Sues U.C.L.A. After It Refused to Pay $1 Billion Fine — The Trump administration accused the university's Los Angeles campus of not doing enough to curb antisemitism, months after it tried to cut research money and demanded more than $1 billion. — The Trump administration sued …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Jewish Insider, Courthouse News Service, Los Angeles Times and Raw Story
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Judges plead with Congress for control of crumbling courthouses — The infrastructure of the nation's federal courthouses is crumbling, plagued by collapsing ceilings, malfunctioning elevators and contaminated water supplies, a top representative for the federal judiciary declared in an unusual plea to Congress on Tuesday.
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:
Justin Jouvenal / Washington Post:
Judiciary says courthouses are crumbling nationwide, seeks control over properties
Judiciary says courthouses are crumbling nationwide, seeks control over properties
Discussion:
New York Times
Paul Waldman / Public Notice:
Trump is about to start a war he hasn't bothered to explain — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🫵 Subscribe to PN 🫵 — When asked last week what his message was to the people of Iran, President Trump seemed puzzled …
Discussion:
Politico, Foreign Affairs, Wonkette, Al Jazeera, Diplomatic,, Raw Story, The Mahablog, CNN, ABC News and Washington Post
RELATED:
Avery Lotz / Axios:
Charles Kushner adds to Trump's growing ambassador drama — France has cut off Charles Kushner, the U.S. ambassador and the father of President Trump's son-in-law, from meeting government officials after he failed to appear when summoned. — Why it matters: America's diplomatic corps is supposed to manage its relationships abroad.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Fox News, The Hill, Reuters, France 24, Joe.My.God., Agence France-Presse, CBS News, UPI, Bloomberg, Politico, Al Jazeera, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, MS NOW and New York Times
New Republic:
Trump Angered by Fresh Slide in Polls as Even Fox Admits He's Tanking — A new CNN poll finds Donald Trump's approval at an abysmal 36 percent. And a Washington Post survey finds him absolutely tanking on just about all major issues. But to Trump, this cannot be real: He just issued an angry …
Discussion:
Puck, Talking Points Memo, NPR and CNN
Washington Post:
GOP lawmaker quietly questioned ‘disturbing’ East Wing demolition — Rep. Michael Turner, co-chair of the congressional Historic Preservation Caucus, wrote to a top White House aide about his “substantial concerns” as party leaders publicly backed Trump's decision.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Holly Ellyatt / CNBC:
U.S. has breached trade deal and Europe is ready to retaliate, top trade lawmaker tells CNBC … The U.S. has breached the terms of its trade deal with the European Union and the bloc is ready to retaliate if necessary, a top EU trade lawmaker told CNBC. — “We wanted to have really stability and predictability.
Discussion:
NBC News, Joe.My.God., The Daily Wire, New York Times, Bloomberg, Washington Times and BBC
TMZ.com:
Martin Short's Daughter Katherine Died By Suicide — Martin Short's daughter, Katherine, has taken her own life ... TMZ has learned. — The 42-year-old died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ. — LAPD and the fire department responded …
Tripp Mickle / New York Times:
The Looming Taiwan Chip Disaster That Silicon Valley Has Long Ignored … Federal officials have for years tried to wean Silicon Valley from its dependence on Taiwan, an island democracy roughly the size of Maryland that makes 90 percent of the world's high-end computer chips.
Discussion:
Tom's Hardware, Blaze Media, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, NewsMax.com and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »
Reagan Reese / The Daily Caller:
EXCLUSIVE: Trump Invites Girl Taken From Parents After Secret Gender Transition — President Donald Trump's guests for his State of the Union address will include Sage Blair, a young woman who was separated from her parents at age 14 after school officials attempted to secretly transition her to a male …
Discussion:
The Daily Signal, RedState, IJR and Newsweek
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
Tennessee lawmakers float abortion amendment that would charge mothers with homicide — Two Republican lawmakers in Tennessee are floating an amendment to an abortion bill that would bring homicide charges against expecting mothers who choose to terminate their pregnancies.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News, The Independent, Newsweek, New York Sun and NewsMax.com
Phillip Nieto / Daily Mail:
Fury as AOC and Mamdani urge illegal migrants to sign up for free childcare — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani have sparked backlash after urging undocumented migrants to sign up for free childcare in a Spanish advertisement. — The New York mayor was joined …
Discussion:
Louder With Crowder and The Daily Caller
Associated Press:
US women's gold medal-winning team declines invitation from Trump to attend State of Union address — The U.S. women's hockey gold medal-winning team has politely declined an invitation from President Donald Trump to attend his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Discussion:
New York Times, Daily Mail, USA Today, NBC News, Washington Times, Megyn Kelly, Fox News, WCNC-TV, The Independent, Chicago Sun Times, Mercury News, KUSA-TV, Raw Story, BizPac Review, Straight Arrow News, Newsweek, The Hill, Blaze Media, The Athletic, The Wrap, Al Jazeera, One America News Network, Mock Paper Scissors, CNN, Washington Post, Boston.com, New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, CBS News, Scripps News, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner and New York Post
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and Flight 93 — We'll talk about the State of the Union address in tomorrow's newsletter. Tonight, Tim and the gang will be live starting at 8:50 p.m. EST on Substack and YouTube to preview the speech, suffer through it with you, and give reactions after it wraps.
Defending Education:
Internal Montgomery County Public Schools curriculum guidance calls for an “intentional shifting of content” to examine “resistance to and liberation from white supremacy” — MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS - MD — Photos of internal documents on a Montgomery County Public Schools …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller

