Top Items:
New York Times:
Hegseth to Campaign for a Republican House Candidate — What We're Covering Today — Justice Department: The Justice Department said that it had created a $1.8 billion fund to compensate supporters of President Trump who felt they had been mistreated by Democratic administrations.
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Associated Press:
Trump moves to dismiss $10B suit over leak of tax returns after reports of a resolution — President Donald Trump on Monday moved to withdraw his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns after reports that a resolution of the case was close at hand.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, The Independent and Mediaite
New York Times:
Trump Withdraws His $10 Billion Suit Against the I.R.S. — The dismissal appears to be part of the Trump administration's effort to effectively settle the case, which stemmed from the leak of his tax returns in 2019. — President Trump withdrew his lawsuit demanding at least $10 billion …
Discussion:
Associated Press and Election Law Blog
US Department of Justice:
Justice Department Announces Anti-Weaponization Fund — For Immediate Release — Part of settlement agreement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service — The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that as a part of the settlement agreement in President Donald J …
Discussion:
New York Post and Mother Jones
Politico:
Trump drops $10B lawsuit against IRS over leaked tax returns … Williams had ordered both sides to file formal legal arguments on that issue by Wednesday and took the unusual step of appointing outside attorneys to advise the court on the legal questions involved.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Hill, The Independent, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story and Law and Chaos
Andrew Pantazi / Axios:
Trump drops $10 billion lawsuit against IRS
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, New Republic and CNN
Kevin Frey / MS NOW:
House Democrats accuse Trump of ‘corruption unparalleled’ over IRS settlement talks
House Democrats accuse Trump of ‘corruption unparalleled’ over IRS settlement talks
Discussion:
DCReport.org
New York Times:
Trump's Approval Sinks Amid Unpopular War, Darkening G.O.P. Prospects — With the midterms nearing, President Trump's approval rating has hit a second-term low as voters question his handling of the economy, according to the latest New York Times/Siena poll.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, New Republic, GZERO, The Guardian, Newsweek, Staff Stories, MS NOW and Political Wire
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Nate Cohn / New York Times:
A Crack in the Polling Floor Puts Trump in New Territory — A 37 percent approval rating in a new Times/Siena poll suggests the G.O.P. is facing a big midterm problem despite recent redistricting gains. — Over the last decade, it's often been said that President Trump's support has a low ceiling but a high floor.
Discussion:
twitchy.com and New Republic
Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:
Trump's Fox Cabinet urges escalation as he ponders a return to war in Iran — As President Donald Trump prepares to meet with top aides to discuss next steps in the Iran war, his Fox News Cabinet is advising him to escalate. — Influential pundits on the MAGA propaganda channel are telling …
Barak Ravid / Axios:
Trump tells Axios “clock is ticking” for Iran and warns of more massive U.S. military attack
Discussion:
Bloomberg, New York Times, CBS News, BBC, Washington Times, The Hill, Scripps News, WTTG-TV, The Times of Israel, HotAir, Jewish Insider, News Talk 105.9, Breitbart, NOTUS, CNN, Mediaite, Straight Arrow, Human Events, NewsMax.com and Reuters
Barak Ravid / Axios:
Iran's new offer is insufficient, risks war resumption: Senior U.S. official
Iran's new offer is insufficient, risks war resumption: Senior U.S. official
Discussion:
HotAir and The Gateway Pundit
Jonathan Lemire / The Atlantic:
A Different Kind of Fading President — When Donald Trump took the oath of office last January, he was the oldest president to begin a term, clocking in at 78 years and 220 days. He replaced the man who formerly held that title, Joe Biden, who had dropped out of the race after it became quite obvious …
Ari Berman / Mother Jones:
Alito Said Racism Was Over. Southern States Are Now Rushing to Revive Jim Crow. — Republicans are set to dismantle at least five majority-Black districts in the South. — Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) is the first Black member of Congress elected from South Carolina since Reconstruction …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Can We Still Govern?, The Guardian and The Hill
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Hansi Lo Wang / NPR:
Why the Supreme Court's voting rights ruling could play a big role at the local level
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, CBS News, New York Times, Newsweek, Election Law Blog and RealClearPolitics
Washington Post:
Trump plans to build helipad at White House — The longtime helicopter owner is addressing a persistent problem: The new Marine One helicopters have a history of burning grass. — Summary — For decades, U.S. presidents have stood, waved and boarded Marine One — the call sign …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, Staff Stories, Metro.co.uk and The Independent
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New York Times:
Cross-Tabs: May 2026 Times/Siena National Poll of Registered Voters — Results of a nationwide New York Times/Siena poll of 1,507 registered voters conducted from May 11 to 15, 2026. — ‹ › — Do you think the United States is on the right track, or is it headed in the wrong direction?
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Independent and Blue Virginia
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Kathryn Watson / CBS News:
Cuba's president says country poses “no threat” to U.S. after report of island's alleged military drones — Add CBS News on Google — Washington — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez insisted Cuba “poses no threat” to the United States and doesn't have …
Discussion:
American Greatness, The Kyiv Independent, U.S. Home, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Axios
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Cheyanne M. Daniels / Politico:
US military attack on Cuba would trigger ‘bloodbath,’ says Cuban president
US military attack on Cuba would trigger ‘bloodbath,’ says Cuban president
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, Reuters, Breitbart and The Independent
New York Times:
In Closed-Door Talks, U.S. Demands a Major Role in Greenland — Greenlandic officials worry about the direction of the negotiations aimed at defusing President Trump's threats to seize their island. But they have little leverage. — With the conflict in Iran still smoldering …
Discussion:
Associated Press, NewsMax.com, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg and Reuters
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
Thousands of people gathered today on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to engage in an eight-hour taxpayer-funded evangelical worship event to “rededicate” the nation to Christianity. — The “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving” event is part …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Washington Post, New Republic, Washingtonian, Al Jazeera, Talking Points Memo, CNN and Raw Story
Lydia Polgreen / New York Times:
Trump Has Done More Than Misjudge Iran — In January, Stephen Miller gave a blustery and revealing interview to the CNN journalist Jake Tapper. Flush with the triumph of the military raid to abduct Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, Miller was taking a victory lap.
Jennifer Bowers Bahney / Mediaite:
60 Minutes Reveals Insider Trading on US Military Conflicts Is Exploding: 'Luck Alone Can't Explain The Numbers' — Prediction markets analysts told 60 Minutes Sunday that insider trading on U.S. military conflicts is exploding, and that the soldier accused of trading on the U.S. invasion …
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Jon Wertheim / CBS News:
Analytics firm connects bets made on war with signs of insider trading
Analytics firm connects bets made on war with signs of insider trading
Discussion:
New Republic, amuse on 𝕏 and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
The real reason RFK Jr. is coming for your antidepressants — The HHS Secretary's attacks on psychiatric medication follow a pattern of putting politics over public health — The siren call was apparently irresistible. “Kennedy Starts a Push to Help Americans Quit Antidepressants,” …
Discussion:
New Republic
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
The smoking guns in Trump's new financial disclosure — Trump publicly praised companies the same day he bought their stock. — On March 11, President Trump took a tour of a manufacturing facility in Reading, Ohio, owned by Thermo Fisher Scientific, a medical supply company.
Discussion:
KFF Health News and The Bulwark
ProPublica:
Oily Sludge Is Flooding Their Dream Home. Oklahoma Regulators Say They Can't Help. — It was their dream home, a newly built, 2,500-square-foot modern farmhouse with a playroom that Mitch and Kara Meredith had saved for 12 years to buy for their growing family.
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Jewish lawmakers face an explosion of antisemitism — Antisemitism is so resurgent in U.S. politics that some of the worst hate speech you've ever heard has become a part of day-to-day life for Jewish politicians. … The hate is direct, explicit and shockingly casual, two dozen members of Congress and candidates told Axios.
Discussion:
Townhall
New York Times:
How a Democratic Governor Came to Release an Election Denier From Prison — Gov. Jared Polis's decision to commute the sentence of Tina Peters came after months of tense discussions, including one with President Trump. — President Trump had a blunt message for Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado …
Discussion:
The Bulwark, MS NOW, The Hill, Townhall, Raw Story and The Colorado Sun
New Republic:
Transcript: Trump Rages Wildly at Journo—and Exposes Big Iran Blunder — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the May 18 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:
Robert Reich
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Scoop: Tillis pops up against GOP's new reconciliation bill — Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has told his colleagues in unequivocal terms that he will not vote for the budget reconciliation bill if the Senate considers it this week, according to two people familiar.
Discussion:
Semafor, Mother Jones, The Independent, NBC News and Raw Story
Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:
FDA's top drug regulator ousted amid agency upheaval — Upheaval among the top ranks of the Food and Drug Administration continued late Friday when Tracey Beth Høeg, the agency's top drug regulator, was ousted. — Høeg had served as acting director of the FDA's Center …
The Hill:
Watch live: Trump hosts healthcare affordability event — President Trump is scheduled to host a healthcare affordability event on Monday afternoon at the White House. — Trump in January unveiled an affordability framework aimed at lowering drug prices and insurance premiums …
