Top Items:
Jonathan Martin / Politico:
Trump's Redistricting Push Could Cost Republicans More Than It Gains … Last week was the best one President Donald Trump has had in months. — Trump reminded Republicans who's boss by ousting Indiana lawmakers who defied his redistricting demands, saw Democrats' attempt to gerrymander Virginia blocked …
Discussion:
The Bulwark, The Contrarian and Raw Story
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New Republic:
Transcript: Trump Blurts Out Plot to Rig Midterms as Polls Turn Brutal — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the May 11 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:
Off Message, Townhall, the @smotus report and Fox News
Paul Waldman / Public Notice:
This is a crisis of democracy. What will Dems do about it?
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Gateway Pundit, Cardinal News and Election Law Blog
Nancy Cordes / CBS News:
Trump says he aims to suspend gas tax “for a period of time” — Add CBS News on Google — Washington — President Trump said in a phone interview with CBS News Monday morning that he aims to suspend the federal gas tax “for a period of time.” — “I think it's a great idea,” the president said.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Axios, Washington Examiner, New York Post, WLTX-TV, NewsMax.com, Straight Arrow News, Bangor Daily News, NBC News, FOX 32 Chicago and Fox News
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Steve Benen / MS NOW:
The problem(s) with the transportation secretary's tone-deaf reality series — Sean Duffy's return to reality programming isn't just a political mess, it also raises unavoidable ethical questions. — Just two weeks into Donald Trump's second term, Axios published a report noting …
Discussion:
NBC News
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Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:
The Great American Road Trip takes the Fox cabinet through the looking glass
The Great American Road Trip takes the Fox cabinet through the looking glass
Discussion:
CNN
Ryan Burke / Just Security:
Lessons from the Pentagon's Empty Case Against Mark Kelly — Secretary Pete Hegseth's Pentagon is in disarray. Adherence to the rule of law, is now, apparently, a ground for termination. The latest target in Hegseth's continued purge was former Secretary of the Navy John Phelan.
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Aleena Fayaz / CNN:
Hegseth calls for Sen. Mark Kelly to be investigated by Pentagon for second time
Discussion:
Townhall, BizPac Review, Mediaite, The Independent, NewsMax.com, The Daily Signal, amuse on 𝕏, U.S. Home, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Fox News, twitchy.com, IJR, CBS News and Washington Times
Damien Cave / New York Times:
What Middle Powers Fear About the Trump-Xi Summit — Asian nations worry that the president might trade security commitments for better economic terms with China during his planned meeting with Xi Jinping this week. — Poland will soon host production lines for South Korean tanks.
Discussion:
UPI and Al Jazeera
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Steve Vladeck / One First:
227. “We're All Trying to Find the Guy Who Did This” — With both its ruling in Callais and its behavior before and since, the Supreme Court has not only accelerated the race to the redistricting bottom; it has placed itself *squarely* in the middle of it. — Welcome back to “One First …
Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:
Lawsuit filed over Trump's Reflecting Pool renovations — A group sued over President Trump's Reflecting Pool project on Monday, arguing the renovation at the National Mall violates environmental and preservation laws. — The Cultural Landscape Foundation and its founder, Charles Birnbaum …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Politico
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Kellen Browning / New York Times:
G.O.P. Plant? Democratic Ruse? Accusations Fly in Nebraska's Senate Race — One Democrat is accused of being a Republican in disguise. Another plans to drop out to boost an independent. It's primary eve in one of the country's most unusual midterm contests.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Election Law Blog and MS NOW
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Elena Schneider / NOTUS:
Nebraska's Tense Democratic Primary Is Bigger Than One House Seat
Nebraska's Tense Democratic Primary Is Bigger Than One House Seat
Discussion:
Jewish Insider, Raw Story and New York Times
Gary Sernovitz / New York Times:
'Bill Cassidy Sold His Soul to the Devil, and He Didn't Get Anything for It' — On Saturday, we'll get some data on how yet another Trump Tragedy will end. Recent polls put Bill Cassidy, the senator from Louisiana, in third place heading into the first round of the Republican primary here.
Ephrat Livni / New York Times:
Trump and Netanyahu Say Iran War Is Not Over — The Trump administration said last week that the war had run its course, but the U.S. president and Israel's prime minister in interviews on Sunday did not rule out renewed combat. — President Trump and Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Jewish Insider, New York Sun, CBS News, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Middle East Monitor, CNBC, Al Jazeera and Politico
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Major Garrett / CBS News:
Netanyahu wants Israel “to draw down to zero the American financial support”
Netanyahu wants Israel “to draw down to zero the American financial support”
Discussion:
Townhall, Human Events, The American Conservative, The Forward, Al Jazeera, BizPac Review, NewsMax.com, The Daily Wire and Mediaite
New York Times:
As Trump Heads to Beijing, China Is ‘Locked and Loaded’ for a Fight — Beijing is signaling that it is ready for a trade showdown, and it is building up a legal arsenal in preparation. — Peace and stability will be the public message when President Trump and China's leader, Xi Jinping, meet in Beijing this week.
Discussion:
Axios, The Atlantic and Asia Times
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David Farrier / Webworm with David Farrier:
Everlee Has Disappeared — Like all of Webworm's public interest journalism, there is no paywall - and there are no ads. This is made possible thanks to its paying subscribers. This work is not possible without them. Thank you. — Hi, — As I write this newsletter at 7.42pm in New York …
Politico:
One American has tested positive for hantavirus, another has mild symptoms … In a statement Sunday evening, HHS said the State Department would airlift the passengers, transporting some of them to the Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians … It's a simple proposition: Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape. — Supporters of Israel made that point after the brutal sexual assaults against Israeli women during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Atlantic:
Stephen Miller in Retreat — Just hours before Stephen Miller arrived at the Mar-a-Lago ballroom on New Year's Eve—where he would welcome 2026 by dancing next to the soon-to-be-defenestrated homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, as the 1990s cultural relic Vanilla Ice performed—he won a great, though ultimately fleeting, victory.
Liam Scott / Washington Post:
Many Americans think Trump assassination attempts were fake, survey finds — About 1 in 4 say the correspondents' dinner shooting was staged, the poll found, including roughly a third of Democrats, as conspiracy theories spread widely online. — Summary — About 1 in 4 Americans …
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Independent and Mediaite
Natalie Korach / Status:
The Post's Opinion Divide … On Monday, as The Washington Post celebrated its two Pulitzer Prize wins, the newspaper found itself scrambling to bring back two previously laid-off video operators to help livestream the celebration because, after the company's massive layoffs in February, no one remained who could operate the system.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
theRighting:
Traffic to Truth Social Soars 45% in April While Other News Websites Decline — Trump-Controlled Platform Vaults to #2 in Traffic for First Time Ever — Year-over-year (YOY) visits in April to the Trump-controlled Truth Social rose 45%, while almost every news website monitored by TheRighting experienced declines.
Shannon Pettypiece / NBC News:
The families going hungry because of Trump's food stamp cuts — Under President Donald Trump's “big, beautiful bill,” food stamp applicants are fighting to prove eligibility and facing questions about birthday gifts sent over Zelle. A crisis in Arizona offers a warning for America.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
NBC News:
Trump is growing impatient as Cuban regime clings to power — U.S. officials believe the regime could fall by the end of the year, but that timeline isn't fast enough for the president, sources say. The White House says Cuba has rejected humanitarian and economic assistance to stabilize.
Bernard Mokam / New York Times:
They Were Promised New Septic Tanks. Trump Called It ‘Illegal DEI.’ … Behind Dana Anderson's home in central Alabama, a plastic pipe carries waste from her toilet through her backyard, discarding it outdoors. Three or four times a year, a spell of heavy rain forces the excrement back up into the house.
NBC News:
White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting suspect pleads not guilty in federal court — Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was armed with multiple guns, as well as knives, when he sprinted through a security checkpoint at the D.C. hotel, officials said. … Cole Tomas Allen, 31 …
Discussion:
Associated Press, NOTUS, New York Times, Scripps News, Reuters, CNBC, UPI, Washington Times, Bloomberg, TMZ.com, The Daily Wire, The Guardian and IJR

