DOJ arrests soldier who made $400,000 betting on Maduro's removal: Sources  —  The bet was allegedly placed by a commando involved in Nicolas Maduro's capture.  —  Katherine Faulders, Aaron Katersky, Peter Charalambous, and Alexander Mallin  —  Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores …

Pentagon fires ombudsman overseeing military newspaper after calling it ‘woke’  —  Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith said the Defense Department dismissed her without giving a reason, according to an email reviewed by The Post.  —  Summary  —  Three months after the Pentagon decried …

The SPLC Targeted Me.  Now Its Reckoning Has Come.  —  The group that called me an ‘extremist’ has been accused of funding hate groups.  And it's provoked racial conflict for decades.  —  Upgrade to Listen  —  A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, on Tuesday issued an 11-count indictment …

The incredible shrinking Trump coalition  —  An updated look at the president's approval rating by geography and demographics shows just how narrow his coalition has become.  —  It has been an exciting poll week here at Strength In Numbers.  On Tuesday, we released our April Strength …

Texas Tech Issues Ban On Students Writing On LGBTQ+ Topics  —  The ban applies to theses and dissertations, and is expected to begin going into effect on a rolling basis. … A new memo at Texas Tech University establishes a sweeping and draconian censorship policy toward LGBTQ+ people …

A Dispiriting Airline Bailout  —  There's no economic justification for the government to save Spirit Airlines.  —  Click for Sound  —  Who could have imagined that the U.S. government would deem a budget airline too big to fail?  Yet here we are, as President Trump is flying to the rescue of the beleaguered Spirit Airlines.

Exclusive: Pentagon email floats suspending Spain from NATO, other steps over Iran rift, source says  —  An internal Pentagon email outlines options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain …

Trump's Dreams for a Battleship Led to His Navy Secretary's Ouster  —  The Navy secretary, John Phelan, was supposed to deliver the first of the president's ships by 2028.  The timeline was nearly impossible.  —  President Trump wanted one thing, more than anything else, from his secretary of the Navy …

DeSantis plots end run of Florida law to create more GOP House seats  —  Florida bans lawmakers from intentionally creating congressional seats to give their party an advantage.  But Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly has launched a three-tiered power play to evade the ban — and create more GOP-friendly seats — in November.

Trump says he'll renovate ‘filthy’ reflecting pool on National Mall  —  At an Oval Office event, the president said he's planning to pour a new surface for the 2,000-foot reflecting pool, giving it an “American flag blue” hue.  —  President Donald Trump touted plans Thursday to coat …

Nobody is laughing at Donald Trump anymore  —  When I think of the difference between Donald Trump's first term and Donald Trump's second term, the image that stands out most is the president bombing.  —  Not a country, in this case — a comedy routine.  —  It was this January's keynote speech …

Elon Musk's near-daily online posts about race are turning off some fans  —  The billionaire posted 850 times on the topic in recent months, almost triple the rate for the previous two years.  —  Summary  —  Elon Musk, the world's richest person, is on the cusp of a record-setting initial public offering …

Rep. Max Miller's divorce from Sen. Bernie Moreno's daughter gets ugly over questions about 2-year-old's broken collarbone  —  WASHINGTON — Ohio Rep. Max Miller is mired in a messy custody battle with his ex-wife that has involved a police investigation into their 2-year-old's broken collarbone, court documents reveal.

Concern Grows Over Republican Congressman's Mysterious Absence  —  A spokesman for Representative Thomas Kean Jr. said an unspecified “personal medical issue” has led the New Jersey Republican to miss House votes.  —  Representative Thomas Kean Jr., one of the most vulnerable Republican members of Congress …

New York Republicans dig in against Trump's preferred Stefanik successor … Though Trump's endorsement is often decisive in a GOP primary, Smullen's supporters are digging in, deepening the split in the fight to replace Stefanik and raising the stakes as Democrats watch closely for a pickup opportunity.

Iran War Has Drained U.S. Supplies of Critical, Costly Weapons  —  The Pentagon's rush to rearm its Mideast forces makes it less ready to confront potential adversaries like Russia and China, administration and congressional officials say.  —  Since the Iran war began in late February …

Mamdani Has Mightily Pissed Off One of NYC's Richest People  —  Last week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani highlighted a new proposal, introduced by Governor Kathy Hochul, that would charge a yearly surcharge on pricey second residences in the city that remain largely unoccupied by their wealthy, out-of-town owners.

Erika Kirk, Turning Point USA CEO, helped arrange White House talks amid MAHA backlash … “Charlie was a coalition builder, right?  Like, he tried to bring these groups together,” said one of the people involved in setting up the White House meeting.  “Erika, kind of taking the reins …

White House exasperated with GOP over Virginia election faceplant  —  Democrats' win in Virginia reignited GOP frustrations over the mid-decade redistricting war … The exasperation emanating from the West Wing underscores a long-simmering frustration that Republicans are too quick …

DHS starts deportation of woman whose loved one died in the Baltimore bridge collapse  —  BALTIMORE — Zoila Guerra Sandoval, 48, remembers making “frijoles blancos,” white beans, the day before the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore in 2024.  —  She had just spoken …

AI data center backlash threatens Pennsylvania GOP incumbents in 2026 election … The AI-driven data center boom in Pennsylvania — which includes a $20 billion investment from Amazon — is leading to political angst in districts in the Keystone State that could help decide control of the U.S. House.

Trump Administration Aims to Strip Citizenship From Hundreds of Naturalized Americans  —  The Trump administration is assigning denaturalization cases to regular prosecutors, which could lead to a surge of people stripped of U.S. citizenship.  —  The Justice Department has identified 384 …

Here's How Trump Can Get Us Out of the Mess in Iran  —  The Islamic Republic of Iran and its violent disruptions have hung over my entire career.  I took the Foreign Service exam as the regime seized U.S. Embassy hostages in late 1979 and grappled with the horrific bombing of our embassy in Beirut in 1983.

A New Worry for Republicans: Latino Catholics Offended by Trump  —  In 2024, the president made significant inroads with Hispanics.  But in a competitive Arizona congressional district, voters now express dismay at his feud with the pope.  —  When Stuart Sepulvida arrives …

First Draft - 🥂 Journalists: Stop Partying With Donald Trump!  —  Tomorrow, at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, reporters will pal around with the man who keeps threatening to put them in jail.  Plus: more details on Israel's murder of a journalist in Lebanon.  —  ∙ Paid