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2:30 PM ET, May 18, 2026

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
Hegseth to Campaign for a Republican House Candidate  —  What We're Covering Today  — Justice Department: The Justice Department said that it had created a $1.8 billion fund to compensate supporters of President Trump who felt they had been mistreated by Democratic administrations.
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Associated Press:
Trump moves to dismiss $10B suit over leak of tax returns after reports of a resolution  —  President Donald Trump on Monday moved to withdraw his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns after reports that a resolution of the case was close at hand.
New York Times:
Trump Withdraws His $10 Billion Suit Against the I.R.S.  —  The dismissal appears to be part of the Trump administration's effort to effectively settle the case, which stemmed from the leak of his tax returns in 2019.  —  President Trump withdrew his lawsuit demanding at least $10 billion …
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Nate Cohn / New York Times:
A Crack in the Polling Floor Puts Trump in New Territory  —  A 37 percent approval rating in a new Times/Siena poll suggests the G.O.P. is facing a big midterm problem despite recent redistricting gains.  —  Over the last decade, it's often been said that President Trump's support has a low ceiling but a high floor.
Discussion: twitchy.com and The Hill
Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:   Trump's Fox Cabinet urges escalation as he ponders a return to war in Iran
Politico:
War's peril for Trump — and the world
US Department of Justice:
Justice Department Announces Anti-Weaponization Fund  —  For Immediate Release  —  Part of settlement agreement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service  —  The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that as a part of the settlement agreement in President Donald J …
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Wall Street Journal:
Justice Department Creates Unusual $1.8 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’  —  WASHINGTON—The Trump administration created an unusual settlement fund valued at nearly $1.8 billion to compensate people who claim the federal government weaponized the legal system against them …
Politico:
DOJ rolls out nearly $1.8B ‘anti-weaponization fund’ as part of Trump's IRS settlement … “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department's intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” Blanche said in a statement.
Kevin Frey / MS NOW:   House Democrats accuse Trump of ‘corruption unparalleled’ over IRS settlement talks
Jonathan Lemire / The Atlantic:
A Different Kind of Fading President  —  When Donald Trump took the oath of office last January, he was the oldest president to begin a term, clocking in at 78 years and 220 days.  He replaced the man who formerly held that title, Joe Biden, who had dropped out of the race after it became quite obvious …
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
The smoking guns in Trump's new financial disclosure  —  Trump publicly praised companies the same day he bought their stock.  —  On March 11, President Trump took a tour of a manufacturing facility in Reading, Ohio, owned by Thermo Fisher Scientific, a medical supply company.
Discussion: Raw Story and The Bulwark
RELATED:
Darius Tahir / KFF Health News:
Trump Bought Stock in Drugmaker as His Government Boosted Its Obesity Drugs
Discussion: STAT
Ari Berman / Mother Jones:
Alito Said Racism Was Over.  Southern States Are Now Rushing to Revive Jim Crow.  —  Republicans are set to dismantle at least five majority-Black districts in the South.  —  Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) is the first Black member of Congress elected from South Carolina since Reconstruction …
RELATED:
Lindsay Whitehurst / Associated Press:   Supreme Court sends closely watched Native American voting rights decision back to lower court
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Scoop: Tillis pops up against GOP's new reconciliation bill  —  Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has told his colleagues in unequivocal terms that he will not vote for the budget reconciliation bill if the Senate considers it this week, according to two people familiar.
Washington Post:
Trump plans to build helipad at White House  —  The longtime helicopter owner is addressing a persistent problem: The new Marine One helicopters have a history of burning grass.  —  Summary  —  For decades, U.S. presidents have stood, waved and boarded Marine One — the call sign …
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Maria Cancian / Brookings:
The administration has detained 400,000 immigrants: What do we know about their children? … Though it is mostly adults who are detained and deported, many children are impacted by separation from their parents.  However, there are no reliable data on how many detainees or deportees …
Lydia Polgreen / New York Times:
Trump Has Done More Than Misjudge Iran  —  In January, Stephen Miller gave a blustery and revealing interview to the CNN journalist Jake Tapper.  Flush with the triumph of the military raid to abduct Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, Miller was taking a victory lap.
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
Thousands of people gathered today on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to engage in an eight-hour taxpayer-funded evangelical worship event to “rededicate” the nation to Christianity.  —  The “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving” event is part …
Wall Street Journal:
Dad Books Are a Dying Breed  —  Sales have been sliding for nonfiction titles about politics, biographies and other books often aimed at men
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
The real reason RFK Jr. is coming for your antidepressants  —  The HHS Secretary's attacks on psychiatric medication follow a pattern of putting politics over public health  —  The siren call was apparently irresistible.  “Kennedy Starts a Push to Help Americans Quit Antidepressants,” …
Discussion: New Republic
Jeet Heer / The Nation:
Trump Gloats About “Making a Fortune” While Americans Suffer  —  As his war in Iran wreaks havoc, Trump is fixated on personal glory and enrichment.  —  Pocket  —  Donald Trump is annoyed that he can't celebrate the massive profits oil companies are making due to the war he launched in the Middle East.
Barak Ravid / Axios:
Iran's new offer is insufficient, risks war resumption: Senior U.S. official  —  Iran has given an updated proposal for a deal to end the war, but the White House believes it is not a meaningful improvement and is insufficient for a deal, a senior U.S. official and a source briefed on the issue told Axios.
New Republic:
Transcript: Trump Rages Wildly at Journo—and Exposes Big Iran Blunder  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the May 18 episode of the Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
Discussion: New York Times and Robert Reich
ProPublica:
Oily Sludge Is Flooding Their Dream Home.  Oklahoma Regulators Say They Can't Help.  —  It was their dream home, a newly built, 2,500-square-foot modern farmhouse with a playroom that Mitch and Kara Meredith had saved for 12 years to buy for their growing family.
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Jewish lawmakers face an explosion of antisemitism  —  Antisemitism is so resurgent in U.S. politics that some of the worst hate speech you've ever heard has become a part of day-to-day life for Jewish politicians. … The hate is direct, explicit and shockingly casual, two dozen members of Congress and candidates told Axios.
Discussion: Florida Politics and Townhall
Bloomberg:
US to Issue New Russia Oil Waiver as Iran War Hits Supplies  —  US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday said his department is issuing a “temporary 30-day general license” allowing the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products that are already loaded on tankers.
Discussion: Associated Press
Colin Meyn / The Hill:
Pentagon pauses Canada joint military board, pointing to Carney remarks  —  The Pentagon's policy chief announced Monday that the United States will suspend its involvement in a joint body that coordinates military consultation with Canada, pointing to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's address …
Discussion: NOTUS, UPI and Jacobin
 
 
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 More Items: 
Joan Biskupic / CNN:
Trump's MAGA Supreme Court lawyer breaks tradition, but the justices embrace it
Discussion: New York Times and Raw Story
Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:
FDA's top drug regulator ousted amid agency upheaval
The Hill:
Watch live: Trump hosts healthcare affordability event
Ben Fox / Politico:
A must-win California House seat is giving Dems heartburn
Discussion: NRCC
 Earlier Items: 
Dan Alexander / Forbes:
How Eric Trump Created A Myth Around His Kids-Cancer Charity
Miranda Devine / New York Post:
Anthony Fauci can't escape his 'origin'al COVID lie
Eric Schmitt / New York Times:
Hegseth to Campaign for a Republican House Candidate
Discussion: NewsMax.com, Raw Story and MS NOW
Ryan King / New York Post:
Rep. Max Miller accused of trying to goad lawyer into brawl as nasty details emerge of spat between his mother, estranged wife
Discussion: Raw Story
Golnar Motevalli / Bloomberg:
Iran Starts Bitcoin-Backed Ship Insurance for Hormuz Strait
Jason Sattler / THE FARCE:
Here's the way Donald Trump is most likely to kill you
 

 
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Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Inside the early 2025 senior exec meeting where Apple admitted its AI failures; Tim Cook became intimately involved in Apple's AI roadmap around the same time

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