Top Items:
Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:
The Next Coup Attempt — And How to Stop It — We are seven months away from the most consequential midterm election in the history of the United States. Meanwhile, we are fighting a war. These are the structural conditions for a coup attempt in which a president tries to nullify elections and take permanent power as a dictator.
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Public Notice:
Trump's war crime campaign, explained by an expert — “People have long memories when it comes to atrocity crimes.” — ∙ Paid — PN is entirely supported by paid subscribers. Click the button to sign up ⬇️ — During his dystopian primetime address to the nation on Wednesday …
Steven Poole / The Guardian:
Forget euphemism, Trump is using unabashed viciousness in his language against Iran — The Trump administration takes pleasure in deploying dysphemism to describe the killing of Iranians — On 23 March, Donald Trump said that if things didn't go to his liking in Iran, “we just keep bombing our little hearts out”.
John R. Bolton / New York Times:
Finish the Job: How Trump Can Still Win in Iran — The war the United States and Israel are fighting is for much higher stakes than what could well be simply a temporary reopening of Persian Gulf maritime traffic. The entire geopolitical shape of the Middle East is now at issue …
Discussion:
Townhall
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Politico:
US military jets hit in Iran war are the first shot down by enemy fire in more than 20 years
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News
Ryan Mancini / The Hill:
Moulton says ‘Iran is winning the war’ after US jets downed
Moulton says ‘Iran is winning the war’ after US jets downed
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, Raw Story and WTOP News
Greg Jaffe / New York Times:
Trump Pledged a Quick End to the Iran War, but He Hasn't Explained How
Trump Pledged a Quick End to the Iran War, but He Hasn't Explained How
Discussion:
New Yorker
David J. Lynch / Washington Post:
Americans are feeling the Iran war's economic pain with hints of worse ahead
Bobby Kogan / MS NOW:
Trump's new budget proposal is historic — in one of the worst ways possible — On Friday, the Trump administration submitted its annual budget request to Congress. The document called for dramatically reducing what the United States government does for Americans.
Discussion:
Axios, Fox News, Jacobin, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Democrats, WNYW-TV, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg and Washington Post
RELATED:
Joseph J. Schatz / Politico:
‘Paradigm shift:’ How Trump's budget request will keep everyone guessing
Tony Romm / New York Times:
White House Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Defense in New Budget Request
White House Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Defense in New Budget Request
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, Breitbart, New York Sun, Stars & Stripes, Deseret News, The Portland Press Herald, The Japan Times, Roll Call, CBS News, RedState, The Hill, Asia Times, MS NOW, The Daily Wire, France 24, Wall Street Journal, The Independent, ABC News, The National Pulse, Forbes, Washington Examiner, The American Conservative, Zeteo, Politico, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Salon
United States Department of State:
Secretary Rubio Revokes Green Cards of Foreign Nationals with Ties to Iranian Terror Regime — Last night, the niece and grand niece of deceased Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani were arrested by federal agents following Secretary of State Marco Rubio's termination …
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Shane Galvin / New York Post:
Niece, grandniece of slain notorious Iranian Gen. Soleimani arrested by ICE while enjoying lavish lifestyles in LA — The niece and grandniece of slain Iranian mastermind Gen. Qasem Soleimani were arrested by US officials, the State Department announced Saturday.
Discussion:
The US Sun, The Post Millennial, The Gateway Pundit and Middle East Monitor
Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
Trump administration detains relatives of killed Iranian general Soleimani
Trump administration detains relatives of killed Iranian general Soleimani
Discussion:
Israpundit and Forbes
Paul Krugman:
Donald Trump isn't sounding like himself, and that's terrifying. Hi, Paul Krugman here with a brief update on Saturday afternoon. — Not my usual thing. No economics, no analytics, just I felt I needed to say something. On Wednesday, Trump gave a speech, which was... pretty depressing.
Discussion:
Grabien
Natalie Fertig / Politico:
Republicans are losing clout in statehouses in another possible sign of midterm trouble … “I think he puts Republicans on the defensive with his actions,” said Dick Wadhams, a longtime consultant and a former state GOP chair in Colorado. “They can't stand it anymore.”
Discussion:
Newsweek, NewsMax.com and Raw Story
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Bianca Quilantan / Politico:
Judge blocks Trump's college admissions data push in 17 states … Massachusetts District Court Judge Dennis Saylor, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in a late Friday order the survey was created in a “rushed and chaotic manner” and problems with it are being “compounded” …
Discussion:
RedState
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Michael Casey / Associated Press:
Judge halts Trump effort requiring colleges to show they aren't considering race in admissions
Judge halts Trump effort requiring colleges to show they aren't considering race in admissions
Discussion:
Reuters, The Independent, Los Angeles Times and WTOP News
Stephen Groves / Associated Press:
Trump administration asks appeals court to pause order halting White House ballroom construction — The Trump administration is arguing that a judge's order to halt construction of a $400 million ballroom creates a security risk for President Donald Trump as it asks a federal appeals court to pause the ruling.
Discussion:
Washington Post and Washington Times
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Gregory Svirnovskiy / Politico:
A subdued Wisconsin Supreme Court race tilts Democrats' way … A packed November election, and the general sense that Tuesday's contest may well be a foregone conclusion, is part of the reason why. — Statewide elections in Wisconsin have often been decided on razor-thin majorities in recent years.
Reuters:
Israel preparing for attacks on Iranian energy sites, awaits US green light, official says — Israel is preparing to attack Iranian energy facilities but is awaiting a green light from the United States, a senior Israeli defense official said on Saturday, adding that any such attacks would likely come within the next week.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
Talia Nimmer / The Hill:
Trump crossed an oily line of state sovereignty in California — your state is next — Last month, the Trump administration quietly pushed the country further into authoritarianism. There were no masked federal agents, no mass protests and no confrontational press conferences.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Reuters:
Trump weighs broader cabinet shake-up as Iran war pressure grows — U.S. President Donald Trump is considering a broader cabinet shake-up in the wake of Attorney General Pam Bondi's removal this week, as he grows increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Post and WNYW-TV
Sarah N. Lynch / CBS News:
White House is expected to shake up more leadership roles at Justice Department, sources say — Add CBS News on Google — President Donald Trump is likely to make leadership changes involving two more top roles at the Justice Department, sources told CBS News on Saturday.
Discussion:
American Thinker and Democracy Docket
New York Times:
Trump's Relentless, ‘Utterly Incoherent’ Battles — From Tehran to the Supreme Court, a look at Trump's relentless battles. — President Trump claims America is “winning bigger than ever before,” but his battles abroad and in American courtrooms drag on.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Katie Campione / Deadline:
Jonathan Majors Fell Through A Window On Daily Wire Action Flick, Leading Crew To Walk Off Set; Producers Say They “Don't Negotiate With Communists” … As we previously reported, IATSE called a strike against the production on March 26 over a series of labor issues.
Discussion:
Washington Times, Variety, Decider, TheGrio, Just Jared and Jezebel
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
Welcome to Miami: America's Most ICE-Besieged City — The new mayor explains why mass deportation is more “insidious” in South Florida. — ∙ Paid — POP QUIZ: WHICH CITY is leading the nation in ICE arrests so far this year? It's not the Twin Cities, which clocked in at over 5,000 arrests from mid-December to mid-March.
Christopher Hale / Letters from Leo:
Trump-Vance White House Escalates Holy Week Assault Against Catholic Church — A judge forced ICE to open the doors. On Holy Thursday, four priests washed the feet of fourteen detained migrants. The next morning, the Pentagon excluded Catholics from Good Friday services.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Fox News


