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11:30 AM ET, April 20, 2026

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
The Bulwark:
Trump's Not Paying Attention to His Own War  —  But then again, do we want him to be?  —  As the Iran crisis spirals back out of control, it's a big day for the president of the United States: His official schedule suggests he will have “Executive Time” all morning until 1:30 p.m. …
more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Trump says energy secretary ‘totally wrong’ on gas prices not dropping to $3 until next year  —  President Trump told The Hill on Monday that he disagreed with Energy Secretary Chris Wright's assessment that gas prices may not drop below $3 per gallon until next year.  —  “No, I think he's wrong on that.
Politico:
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.
Discussion: Raw Story
Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Jeff Mason / Bloomberg:
Trump Says Iran Truce Extension Unlikely, Hormuz Stays Shut
Discussion: HotAir and The Independent
Reuters:
Ceasefire at risk after US seizes Iranian ship, Iran shuns peace talks
Emma Whitford / Inside Higher Ed:
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 …
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court takes up Catholic objection to Colorado's preschool program  —  The Archdiocese of Denver says church-run preschools should be eligible to participate in a state-funded program without having to abide by nondiscrimination rules.  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday took …
RELATED:
Ann E. Marimow / New York Times:
Justices to Hear Case on Catholic Preschools That Reject Children of Gay Parents  —  Catholic preschools in Colorado that decline to enroll families with L.G.B.T.Q. children or parents sued to participate in a state-funded program.  —  The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether Catholic preschools …
Discussion: Fox News
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
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.
New York Times:
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 …
RELATED:
Politico:
Big-city politicians are starting to worry about the World Cup … But state and local governments worry that the soccer federation's restrictions on the ability of host cities to independently fundraise are sticking U.S. taxpayers with the bill. … Politicians are chafing at the high ticket prices set …
Discussion: New Republic
RELATED:
Politico:   World Cup stress test for LA
Marita Vlachou / HuffPost:
Kash Patel Files $250 Million Lawsuit Against The Atlantic: Report  —  FBI Director Kash Patel on Monday sued The Atlantic and its journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick, Reuters reported, citing court records, just a few days after it published a report detailing allegations of his “excessive drinking and unexplained absences.”
RELATED:
Steve Vladeck / One First:
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,” …
RELATED:
William Baude / Divided Argument:   The Non-Scandalous Clean Power Plan Memos
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
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.
Nick Marsh / BBC:
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 …
Damien Cave / New York Times:
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 …
NBC News:
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 …
RELATED:
Sonia A. Rao / New York Times:   Trump Administration Demand for Ballot Info Rebuffed by Michigan
Paul Krugman:
The Harm from Hormuz  —  Why we should still fear a global slump from Trump's Iran debacle  —  Another week, another false all-clear.  —  The Strait of Hormuz remains closed.  It appears increasingly obvious that the 20 percent of world oil supply that normally flows through it to world markets …
Discussion: The Mahablog
Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:
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.
Russell Contreras / Axios:
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 …
Discussion: Raw Story
Washington Post:
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,” …
Discussion: Raw Story
Politico:
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.
Discussion: Punchbowl News
Wall Street Journal:
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.
Maibritt Henkel / The Argument:
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 …
Discussion: STAT, Washington Examiner and Althouse
Gary Fields / Associated Press:
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 …
Bloomberg:
Machado Says She'll Return This Year, Testing Venezuela's Leader  —  María Corina Machado said she will return to Venezuela this year, a move that will test acting President Delcy Rodríguez's tolerance for dissent and the US commitment to back the opposition leader it once pledged to protect.
Discussion: Reuters
Liz Landers / PBS NewsHour:
Trump tells PBS News that ‘lots of bombs start going off’ if Iran ceasefire expires  —  President Donald Trump told PBS News on Monday morning that if the ceasefire with Iran expires Tuesday, “then lots of bombs start going off.”  —  The statement came during a phone call …
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
The media blackout of Jared Kushner's historic, ongoing corruption scandal  —  As Trump's son-in-law returns to Pakistan for more talks with Iran, major news outlets are largely ignoring an egregious conflict of interest.  —  Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law …
 
 
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 More Items: 
New York Times:
Argentina's right-wing president has tamed the country's runaway inflation. Now he wants to transform its values.
Brynn Tannehill / The Bulwark:
Ukraine's Second Miracle Year
Collin Eaton / Wall Street Journal:
Big Oil Plows Billions Into Far-Flung Drilling Sites to Escape Iran Turmoil
Discussion: NewsMax.com and Semafor
Jill Filipovic / New York Times:
Does the Trump Administration Really Want More Teen Pregnancies?
Discussion: Throughline
Politico:
Set on ousting Cassidy, MAHA faces first midterms test
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Vox:
Pete Hegseth's spiritual leader explains his radical faith
Ian Millhiser / Vox:
The Supreme Court will decide when the police can use your phone to track you
Discussion: Los Angeles Times
Rachel Roubein / Washington Post:
KitKat, Gatorade or granola bars? What's banned under new SNAP rules is mixed.
 Earlier Items: 
KTBS:
SPD, LSP investigating fatal mass shootings involving 8 children in Cedar Grove; victims identified
Paul Waldman / Public Notice:
Trump Is dooming his party to a midterm blowout
Washington Examiner:
Universities cannot survive as left-wing echo chambers
Ed Mazza / HuffPost:
Now Trump Reportedly Wants Nation's Highest Military Honor... For Himself
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
Al Weaver / NOTUS:
Senate Republicans Agonize as Trump Tramples on Tax Cut Message
Discussion: Raw Story and MS NOW
Julian Mark / Washington Post:
Supreme Court justices turn children's books into big paydays
Lauren Egan / The Bulwark:
Dems Aren't Buying Reports of Alito Staying Put
Discussion: The Hill
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Matthew Gault / 404 Media:
A Forbes story about a Louisiana man killing 8 children contained a ForbesPredict box asking readers to predict whether Congress would pass new gun safety laws

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Deezer says AI-generated tracks now account for 44% of daily uploads, totaling ~75K tracks per day and 2M+ per month, but account for just 1-3% of consumption

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
More than 250 ex-broadcast journalists urge WHCA dinner organizers “to forcefully demonstrate opposition” to Trump's “efforts to trample freedom of the press”
 
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