Trump's inconvenient truth  —  With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray  —  Good Monday morning.  This is Jack Blanchard, fresh off a sun-baked weekend in beautiful West Virginia, where the kids hunted for salamanders in an icy mountain lake and your author discovered the joys of hot pepper jelly.

Faculty Defect From Texas Publics, Citing Censorship Concerns  —  Fed up with the state's censoring of Plato, Joan of Arc and Romeo and Juliet, humanities professors are leaving Texas public institutions in pursuit of academic freedom.  —  Texas A&M philosophy professor Martin Peterson …

Republicans stare down a growing, neverending FISA crisis … For many Republicans, the high-drama meltdown in the House was entirely predictable and has been months in the making, after Trump demanded a clean extension of the surveillance law despite well-documented skepticism within his own party.

Justice Department demands Michigan county turn over 2024 ballots  —  Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel dismissed the latest election inquiry from the Trump administration as “absurd” and “baseless.”  —  The Justice Department has demanded Wayne County, Michigan …

Why a Democratic Senate, Once Unthinkable, Is a Real Possibility  —  Helped by a favorable national environment and strong candidate recruitment, Democrats are tied or ahead in four Republican-held seats, polls show.  —  At the start of the 2026 election cycle, the Senate looked far out of reach for the Democrats.

221. Chief Justice Roberts and the Clean Power Plan  —  Remarkable reporting from the New York Times provides a peek behind the curtain of the February 2016 rulings that ushered in the modern emergency docket.  And what it reveals is pretty discouraging.  —  Welcome back to “One First,” …

Trump Library Saga Takes Dark Turn: Where Did Millions in Funding Go?  —  Last year, four huge companies pledged tens of millions of dollars to help fund the creation of Donald Trump's presidential library, a planned monstrosity in Miami that—in a perfect Trumpian twist—may also double as a hotel.

Trump Administration to Begin Refunding $166 Billion in Tariffs  —  The government will debut a system to repay importers two months after the Supreme Court struck down tariffs at the heart of the president's trade policy.  —  When President Trump unveiled his sprawling global tariffs last spring …

Power without accountability: The Palantir manifesto  —  It is not enough for the broligarchy to have untold wealth.  They also wanted political power.  Now they have that.  And they want to be esteemed as philosopher kings, while simultaneously shielded from criticism.  Well, that's a taller order.

The pope's English fuels a Trump feud  —  Escalating tensions between Pope Leo XIV and President Trump may hinge on something unusually simple: the pope doesn't need a translator. … - Without that layer, Leo's comments land more directly in the American media ecosystem and to American Catholics …

The insider trading suspicions looming over Trump's presidency  —  Throughout US President Donald Trump's second term in office, traders have been betting millions of dollars just before he makes major announcements.  —  The BBC has examined trade volume data on several financial markets …

The New York Times is wrong about the birth rate  —  The Times says a boom of older mothers is coming to reverse low fertility, but the math is against them.  —  Fewer American women are choosing to have children young.  So much is obvious.  The big question is whether …

U.A.E. Asks U.S. About a Wartime Financial Lifeline  —  Emirati officials speak with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about accessing dollars if Middle East conflict drags on  —  WASHINGTON—The United Arab Emirates has opened talks with the U.S. about obtaining a financial backstop in case …

Energy Secretary Says Gas Prices May Stay Above $3 Until 2027  —  Secretary of Energy Chris Wright's acknowledgment in a TV interview undercut President Trump's earlier claim that price increases would be “short-term.”  —  Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said on Sunday that gasoline prices …

He sat atop an extremist empire.  She thought he needed money. … Summary  —  Kristine Kasubienski's donation appeared on viewers' screens four hours into the live stream of Nick Fuentes, the far-right influencer she often called her second son.  —  “I pray DAILY for your safety,” …

Hegseth's Feud With Army Secretary Spills Into Public View  —  Spat comes as the military faces unprecedented commitments around the world  —  Soon after his first day at the Pentagon in early 2025, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll walked into his boss's office with a proposal.

Universities cannot survive as left-wing echo chambers  —  Trust in higher education is near an all-time low, and a new Yale University report suggests colleges have only themselves to blame.  —  In addition to problems such as high prices, opaque admissions processes, and declining academic standards …

The Iran War Sent Shock Waves Through Asia That Are Likely to Spread  —  The Asia-Pacific was hit hard and quick by the war in Iran and its energy bottlenecks.  Scenes of crisis there indicate that problems are multiplying and spreading.  —  When the war in Iran started on Feb. 28 …

With no end in sight to their deployment, National Guard troops roam Washington  —  The cherry blossoms draw more than a million visitors to Washington's Tidal Basin annually.  This year was no different, except some strolling the area between the Lincoln Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial …

Trump Is dooming his party to a midterm blowout  —  It's almost as though he wants Republicans to lose.  —  This special Saturday edition of PN is made possible by paid subscribers.  Become one👇  —  As the 2018 elections approached, President Trump found the perfect issue to reverse …