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.
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David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Trump Was Flattering, Xi Was Resolute. The Difference Spoke Volumes.
Discussion:
Washington Times
New York Times:
Live Updates: China's Xi Warns Trump on Taiwan at Beijing Summit
Live Updates: China's Xi Warns Trump on Taiwan at Beijing Summit
Discussion:
Associated Press, Mediaite, Politico, Breitbart, New York Magazine, The Hill, The Independent, Washington Examiner, Phillips's Newsletter, Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations, Focus Taiwan, Reuters, Just Jared, CBS News, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Althouse, Semafor, Grabien and NewsMax.com
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
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, Punchbowl News and Washington Examiner
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Eduardo Medina / New York Times:
South Carolina Governor Plans Special Session to Redraw House Maps
Discussion:
Post and Courier, UPI, Breitbart, The Guardian, New York Sun, CBS News, WXIA-TV, WIS-TV, MS NOW, WLTX-TV, New York Post, Fox Carolina, Greenville News, The Hill, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner, Democracy Docket, Straight Arrow News, New Republic, Magnolia Tribune, Townhall and Politico
Alan Elrod / Liberal Currents:
Democrats Need to Realize What Time It Is: On Conjuncture, Revolution, and the Next American Republic
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, Straight Arrow News, Al Jazeera, NewsMax.com, Raw Story, NOTUS, Reuters, New York Post, The Wire China, The Hill, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and RedState
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Paul Krugman:
A Failing, Flailing President Supplicates Xi
Discussion:
Telegraph, BizPac Review, New York Times and MS NOW
Emily Goodin / New York Post:
Chaos erupts behind the scenes of Trump's China trip — including trampled White House aide
Chaos erupts behind the scenes of Trump's China trip — including trampled White House aide
Discussion:
IJR, Instapundit, Breitbart, Jewish Insider, NewsMax.com, The Daily Caller and Semafor
Ana Swanson / New York Times:
‘Quite Brutal,’ ‘Not Friendly’: What People in China Say of Trump
‘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, Asia Times and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
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.
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.
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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 »
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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
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, Grabien, HuffPost and CBS News
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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 …
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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
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.
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
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:
Associated Press, Pew Research Center, RNS, The Forward, People For and Washington Post
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 …
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:
The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and BizPac Review
Paul Krugman:
Why Did Trump Take Elon Musk to China? — Corruption pervades everything this administration does — What's good for Elon Musk is not necessarily good for America. In fact, it may go the other way around. So why did Donald Trump take Musk and a bunch of other top executives to China with him?
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
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:
New York Times, Politico and The Information
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 and Reuters
Helen Lewis / The Atlantic:
The Men Who Want Women to Be Quiet … douglas wilson has a modest proposal to improve American life: He wants to repeal the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the vote. In his ideal system, “we would do it in our politics the same way we do it in our church structure,” he told me recently.
Discussion:
The Federalist
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

