memeorandum: US Border Patrol chief Michael Banks is resigning, in latest DHS leadership change (Associated Press)

4:10 PM ET, May 14, 2026

Top Items:

Evelyn Cheng / CNBC:

Xi asks Trump if U.S. and China can avoid ‘Thucydides Trap’ at high-stakes summit … BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday morning, kick-starting a high-stakes summit that is expected to cover trade, tariffs, Taiwan and Iran, and runs through Friday.

Discussion: New York Times, Bloomberg, Algemeiner.com, Washington Examiner, The Floridian, Washington Post, New York Post, The Hill, Financial Times, Human Events, Deseret News, The Guardian, Forbes, U.S. Home, RTÉ, Mediaite and Wall Street Journal

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

Trump Was Flattering, Xi Was Resolute. The Difference Spoke Volumes. — In contrast to his rhetoric about China at home, President Trump spoke in conciliatory terms with Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader. — For President Trump, the first day of his visit to Beijing was all about the …

Discussion: MS NOW, NPR and Washington Times

Phillips P. OBrien / Phillips's Newsletter:
Trump in China: A Case Study Of US Decline

Discussion: The Mahablog, The Bulwark, The Independent, HotAir, To the Contrary and New Republic

New York Times:
Live Updates: China's Xi Warns Trump on Taiwan at Beijing Summit

Associated Press:

Emails show FBI Director Kash Patel's Hawaii trip included ‘VIP snorkel’ at a Pearl Harbor memorial — When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau's Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement.

Calen Razor / Politico:

‘Crush their souls’: Map losses spur Dem rage — Presented by IN TODAY'S EDITION: — Senate GOP cool on House's summer recon plan — Housing bill, SCORE Act to hit House floor — House war powers vote, take three — Democrats are ready to play hardball after a stunning series …

Discussion: Axios and Punchbowl News

Eduardo Medina / New York Times:
South Carolina Governor Plans Special Session to Redraw House Maps

Alan Elrod / Liberal Currents: Democrats Need to Realize What Time It Is: On Conjuncture, Revolution, and the Next American Republic

Politico:
‘Crush their souls’: Democrats ditch the niceties after GOP gains upper hand on redistricting

Discussion: HotAir, NewsMax.com, The Daily Wire and The Gateway Pundit

Will Sommer / The Bulwark:

The Right's Worst New Star Just Shot Someone — There's a truly villainous new livestreamer who's become a cause célèbre on the right—a guy so bad he makes Clavicular's videos about drug overdoses and the Israeli mafia look like an episode of Bluey.

Discussion: New York Times, Originally Reported …, New York Post, U.S. Home, ClarksvilleNow.com, WPLN News, TMZ.com, IJR, Raw Story and KEYT-TV

Washington Post:

Rubio is banned from China, but Beijing may have found a way around it — Chinese officials are using a different transliterated character for the secretary of state's name, perhaps to allow him to visit without lifting the 2020 ban. — Summary — Secretary of State Marco Rubio …

Discussion: NBC News, The Diplomat, Straight Arrow News, NewsMax.com, Raw Story, Al Jazeera, Fox News, NOTUS, Reuters, New York Post, The Wire China, The Hill, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and RedState

Emily Goodin / New York Post:

Chaos erupts behind the scenes of Trump's China trip — including trampled White House aide — BEIJING — President Trump's much-anticipated summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been marred by multiple physical altercations just offstage. — Among the incidents that took place Thursday:

Discussion: The Daily Wire, IJR, Instapundit, Breitbart, Jewish Insider, NewsMax.com, The Daily Caller and Semafor

Paul Krugman:
A Failing, Flailing President Supplicates Xi

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Telegraph, BizPac Review and New York Times

Ana Swanson / New York Times:
‘Quite Brutal,’ ‘Not Friendly’: What People in China Say of Trump

Discussion: Foreign Policy

New York Times:

U.S. Set to Drop Charges Against Indian Billionaire Accused of Fraud — The decision came after a lawyer for the billionaire, Gautam Adani, repeated an offer to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs. — 5 MIN READ — In a City of Big Dreams, Many Young Adults See a Cloudy Future

Discussion: Bloomberg, MS NOW, Asia Times and Forbes, more at Techmeme »

Fox News:

US Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks abruptly resigns, Fox News learns — U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks told Fox News on Thursday he is resigning, effective immediately. — “It's just time,” Banks told Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin. — “I feel like I got the ship back on course …

Discussion: The Hill, CNBC, Straight Arrow News and The Independent

Associated Press:
US Border Patrol chief Michael Banks is resigning, in latest DHS leadership change

Discussion: New York Post, ABC News, Reuters, Associated Press, CBS News, UPI, The Daily Wire, Washington Times, WLT Report, RedState, WTTG-TV, One America News Network, NewsMax.com and The Gateway Pundit

Joseph Gedeon / The Guardian:
US border patrol chief resigns abruptly amid string of exits by Trump immigration officials

Discussion: Mediaite

New Republic:

Trump Iran Tirade Visibly Rattles GOPers as Leaks Expose New Blunders — The fallout continues from Donald Trump's startling rant admitting that he isn't concerned with how the Iran war is impacting Americans' finances. On Wednesday, JD Vance, Mike Johnson, and numerous other Republicans struggled …

Discussion: DCCC, Reuters, Washington Examiner, NewsMax.com, HuffPost, Grabien and CBS News

Axios:
Trump's killer quote exposes his bind on Iran and inflation

Discussion: The Atlantic and Just Jared

Wall Street Journal:
Republicans Want Trump to Focus on Voters' Economic Concerns

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill and Politico

Bloomberg:

Kushner Disappoints Mideast Clients Who Spent Millions Seeking Sway — Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE backed Affinity Partners in hopes of gaining White House influence and investment returns. The US war with Iran that they opposed has shown the constraints of that approach.

Associated Press:
Ship is reported seized off the coast of the UAE and is heading toward Iran

Discussion: RTÉ, Washington Times, UPI, The Guardian, Reason, Los Angeles Times, Fox News and Reuters

Financial Times:
Saudi Arabia floats Middle Eastern non-aggression pact with Iran

Discussion: New York Times, GZERO and Townhall

Shir Perets / Jerusalem Post:

Israel to take legal action against ‘New York Times’ over claims of ‘dog rape’ of Palestinians — PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar instructed officials to prepare a defamation lawsuit against “one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published” on Israel.

Discussion: HotAir, Algemeiner.com, The Times of Israel, Jewish Insider and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan Mancini / The Hill:
Israel to sue New York Times over Palestinian prisoner rape allegations

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, RedState, The Daily Wire, Townhall, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, J., Fox News and Newsbusters, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

Exclusive: Acting AG Todd Blanche was told last year to recuse from Justice Department matters involving Trump — Donald Trump Federal agencies Trump legal cases People in entertainment — It was less than two weeks after Todd Blanche took on his role of deputy attorney general in March 2025 …

Discussion: Mediaite and E&E News

Wall Street Journal: Todd Blanche Is Wasting No Time in His Audition to Be the Next Attorney General

Mia Cathell / Washington Examiner:

Healthcare company CEO convicted of $1 billion Medicare fraud conspiracy — A federal jury in Florida has convicted the founder of a healthcare software company for defrauding Medicare and other federal healthcare benefit programs out of more than $1 billion.

Discussion: US Department of Justice, CBS News, Breitbart, The Daily Caller and WLT Report

Henry Burke / American Prospect:

Following the Money on Sean Duffy's Road Trip — The Revolving Door Project, a Prospect partner, scrutinizes the executive branch and presidential power. Follow them at therevolvingdoorproject.org. — Nearly three decades after starring on MTV's The Real World: Boston …

Discussion: New York Times and The Atlantic

Christian Paz / Vox:

A year of Trump is backfiring on the religious right — This weekend, an array of Christian religious leaders and government officials are scheduled to gather at the National Mall in Washington, DC. They'll convene to pray, yes, but this rally — organized as part of the White House-backed …

Discussion: Pew Research Center, Associated Press, RNS, The Forward, People For and Washington Post

Nicholas Grossman / Arc Digital:

Proof the New York Times is Biased in Trump's Favor — President Donald Trump is on an official U.S. state visit to China, and he brought American business leaders in pursuit of deals. One is Trump's biggest campaign donor Elon Musk, which is very corrupt.

Discussion: New York Times and MS NOW

Washington Post:

White House planned to start Triumphal Arch work under unrelated contract — The unusual move would allow the administration to bypass a public bidding process, relying on a deal for engineering services already underway at the White House. — Summary — The Trump administration planned …

Discussion: Staff Stories and Raw Story

Kevin E G Perry / The Independent:

Paul McCartney says one song has the power to unite Democrats and Republicans in Trump's America — The Beatles legend says the song stops political rivals from being 'at each other's throats' — Sir Paul McCartney has paid tribute to the ability of music to bring together warring factions …

Discussion: Variety

New York Times:

Open Primaries Have Their Fans. The Parties Are Not Among Them. — New research claims that bipartisan primaries have broad societal benefit, but opposition is growing, and Louisiana voters this weekend will participate in the state's first closed primary since 1978.

Wall Street Journal:

Crypto Industry Notches Win in Washington After Brawl With Banks — Marquee crypto bill advances past key Senate committee following furious lobbying campaigns by both sides — WASHINGTON—A bill that would create a pathway for crypto to further upend the world of traditional finance moved …

Discussion: The Hill, The Information, New York Times and Politico, more at Techmeme »

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / New Republic:

Democratic Lawmaker, 83, Has Been Missing for a Month — Representative Frederica Wilson has yet to explain why she hasn't voted on a single issue since April 17. — The Florida Democrat has been missing in action for weeks, according to her documented voting record.

Discussion: Axios, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and BizPac Review

Rob Flaherty / The Bulwark:

Here's What I Told the DNC Autopsy — YOU MAY HAVE HEARD about the Democratic National Committee “autopsy”—the post-election report commissioned by the DNC in 2025 to examine what went wrong in the 2024 campaign. — And you may have heard that it was never released to the public.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Sacramento Bee

Zach Montague / New York Times:

Appeals Court Appears Skeptical of Trump Orders Targeting Law Firms — A three-judge panel showed few signs of siding with the president on his efforts to compel law firms to work for the administration or face threats. — A federal appeals court on Thursday appeared skeptical …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, ABC News and Reuters

Matthew Kupfer / Democracy Docket:

FBI went to home of Milwaukee election official as Trump targets 2020 results — A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent visited the home of Milwaukee County's elections director earlier this week in an attempt to question her, the county clerk has said.

Discussion: Fox News, WISN, CBS News and NBC News