Top Items:
Punchbowl News:
5/13/26☀️ AM: … On issue after issue, both in Washington and in state capitals around the country, Republicans are giving Trump the stiff arm. They're ignoring his policy demands and overlooking his diatribes, even as they continue pledging allegiance to Trump politically.
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Hans Nichols / Axios:
Republicans are sweating about the White House ballroom project … But it is in doubt. … - GOP senators were unmoved by a line-item lobbying effort from Secret Service director Sean Curran in a closed-door lunch on Tuesday, first reported by Axios. — “One of the biggest concerns …
Discussion:
Politico, HuffPost, Washington Examiner and The Hill
Politico:
Why Republicans can't get traction on affordability legislation … The scale of the political challenges facing Republicans were further underscored Tuesday with the administration's latest cost estimate for the Iran war surpassing $29 billion and a brutal inflation report showing gas …
Discussion:
The Hill, Punchbowl News, Axios and Bloomberg
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
10,000 rulings: The courts' overwhelming rebuke of Trump's ICE policies … Trump's unprecedented detention policy, which is almost certainly headed to the Supreme Court, infuriated lower courts in ways no other modern issue has. It ruptured the relationship between the Justice Department and the judiciary …
Discussion:
Slate
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Aaron Pellish / Politico:
Trump administration elevates former private prison company exec to lead ICE
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asks public to back judicial independence
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asks public to back judicial independence
Discussion:
twitchy.com
New York Times:
Justice Dept. Officials Consider Settling Trump Suit Against I.R.S. — One of the settlement terms under review is for the I.R.S. to drop any audits of the president, his family members and businesses. — The Justice Department is holding internal discussions about settling President Trump's lawsuit …
Discussion:
Esquire, Techdirt, Talking Points Memo and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Wholesale inflation jumps 6% in April on annual basis, biggest increase since 2022 … Wholesale prices in April posted their highest annual increase in more than three years, signaling more nettlesome inflation as pipeline costs intensify. — The producer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.4% …
Discussion:
UPI, New York Times, GV Wire, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Independent, Reuters and Breitbart
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Zachary Basu / Axios:
Trump's five-alarm economy
Discussion:
The Guardian, Mock Paper Scissors, Raw Story, CBS News, New Republic, Democrats, Bloomberg, The Independent, Daily Kos, Mercury News, CNN and PoliticusUSA
Aaron Pellish / Politico:
GOP scores another gerrymandering victory with Missouri Supreme Court win … It's the latest in a series of redistricting victories won by Republicans through the courts. The Supreme Court ruled last month to weaken the Voting Rights Act, clearing the way for several Republican-controlled states …
Discussion:
Compact, The Post Millennial, NOTUS, RedState and Democracy Docket
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Ben Kamisar / NBC News:
Louisiana GOP lawmakers advance map eliminating one Democratic House district
Discussion:
New York Times, IJR, This Week in Statehouse Action, WVUE-TV, WWL-TV and Fox News
Carlie Kollath Wells / Axios:
Louisiana advances congressional map with reduced Black representation
Louisiana advances congressional map with reduced Black representation
Discussion:
The Hill, Democracy Docket, Verite News New Orleans, MS NOW, Los Angeles Times and Raw Story
Ana Swanson / New York Times:
Trump's Shrinking Ambitions on China — The president came into office planning harsher trade moves on China than on the rest of the world. Here's why he's had to scale them back. — When President Trump campaigned in 2024, he promised a trade agenda that would hit China harder …
Discussion:
Axios, Al Jazeera, Asia Times, CSIS, Semafor, Washington Examiner, Washington Post and NPR
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Joshua Keating / Vox:
Trump's China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expected
Discussion:
Politico, Bloomberg, NewsMax.com, Al Jazeera, Forbes, Foreign Affairs, Washington Times and The Spectator, more at Techmeme »
Jasmine Wright / NOTUS:
'America's Boss Is Coming': Trump Gets a Lavish Welcome to China
'America's Boss Is Coming': Trump Gets a Lavish Welcome to China
Discussion:
New York Post, New York Times, CNBC, The Hill, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, The Guardian and Forbes
Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
The Trump Counterterrorism Strategy Is a Dangerous Joke — The policy is unfocused, run by amateurs, and concerned more with the president's many grievances than the security of the United States. — Last week, the Trump administration released the official 2026 United States Counterterrorism Strategy.
Discussion:
Raw Story and War on the Rocks
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Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
California 2026 Poll: Becerra Continues to Surge, Steyer and Hilton Compete for Second Spot — Home Polls California 2026 Poll: Becerra Continues to Surge, Steyer and Hilton Compete for Second Spot — Bass leads primary for LA Mayor with 30% support; Pratt and Raman trail
Discussion:
New York Post, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Breitbart and KTLA
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
The biggest story in the country, today and always, is that the president of the United States is mentally unwell. — Over the course of three hours last night, he posted on social media fifty-five times. Those posts accused a number of those Trump considers his personal enemies …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow News and Raw Story
Andrew Howard / Politico:
Nebraska Dem who will drop out and support Dan Osborn wins Senate primary — Nebraska Democrat Cindy Burbank defeated anti-abortion pastor Bill Forbes in the state's Senate primary, giving independent Dan Osborn a clearer path against Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) in November.
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Reuters:
Exclusive: US freezes Medicare enrollments for new home healthcare and hospice providers — The Trump administration will block new home healthcare and hospice providers from enrolling in Medicare for at least the next six months, according to a government statement posted on Wednesday, citing concerns about widespread fraud.
Discussion:
CBS News, Washington Times and Washington Examiner
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Wall Street Journal:
The Late-Night Truth Social Storms That Offer a Window Into the President's Mind — A WSJ analysis of thousands of posts found that the president uses the social-media platform to spread conspiracy theories and attack his adversaries — WASHINGTON—Monday was a typical day for President Trump.
Discussion:
MS NOW, Washington Post, Raw Story, Election Law Blog and Mediaite
Wall Street Journal:
Watchdog Probes Kristi Noem's Warehouse Purchases for ICE Detention Centers — The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general is investigating a $38 billion program championed by Noem — WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general has launched a probe …
Discussion:
New York Post, The Independent and Raw Story
Liz Dye / Public Notice:
FCC's Brendan Carr picks a fight with The View ... PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 📡 Subscribe to PN 📡 — With so many cartoon villains in the Trump administration, it's hard for an upstart evildoer to break through the news cycle.
Discussion:
New York Sun
Max Tani / Semafor:
CBS' Tony Dokoupil to broadcast from Taiwan after failing to get China visa in time — The Scoop — CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil will broadcast from Taipei this week after failing to obtain a visa to China in time, a stumble in the network's efforts to play a leading role in this week's dominant global story.
Wall Street Journal:
Inside Marty Makary's Downfall at the FDA — Senior administration officials concluded the commissioner was out of step with President Trump's priorities — In the end, Dr. Marty Makary had just about run out of allies. — The chorus calling for the Food and Drug Administration commissioner …
RELATED:
Katherine Eban / Rolling Stone:
Trump Taps Don Jr.'s 38-Year-Old Turkey-Hunting Pal to Lead FDA
Trump Taps Don Jr.'s 38-Year-Old Turkey-Hunting Pal to Lead FDA
Discussion:
The Guardian, LifeNews.com, One America News Network, Raw Story, Newsweek, Bloomberg and Politico
Washington Post:
White House to host 9-hour prayer festival focused on Christian roots of U.S. — Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio and Mike Johnson will speak at the event, which centers on the idea that the founders wanted the U.S. to be explicitly Christian. — Summary — The Trump administration is hosting …
Discussion:
The Guardian, LGBTQ Nation, NewsMax.com and RNS
Kate Santaliz / Axios:
Scoop: Rep. Edwards aide feared retaliation over unwanted attention — Rep. Chuck Edwards told a 20-something female staffer it was “disappointing to feel something that used to be easy has gotten complicated” after she did not want to have dinner with him in May of 2025, according to a text exchange reviewed by Axios.
Discussion:
CNN
Oliver Milman / The Guardian:
‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan — Facility would require more power than entire state uses and suck up vast amount of water in drought-stricken area — A plan to create one of the world's largest datacenters, a gargantuan project spanning …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and Deseret News
John Vandiver / Stars & Stripes:
Austria scrambles fighters to intercept US Air Force aircraft twice in 2 days — STUTTGART, Germany — Austria scrambled fighter planes on back-to back days to intercept U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft traveling through its airspace, the country's defense ministry said this week.
Discussion:
The War Zone

