memeorandum: How this age of extreme gerrymandering is transforming American politics (Washington Post)

10:35 AM ET, May 25, 2026

Top Items:

Yuliya Talmazan / NBC News:

Iran says no deal ‘imminent’ despite progress in talks with U.S. — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Monday that an agreement could be finalized “today,” though he cautioned that if talks fail, Washington would find “another way” to resolve the situation.

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Washington Times, UPI, Responsible Statecraft, American Thinker, RTÉ and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

To Get the Strait Open, Trump Had to Leave the Hardest Issues for Later — President Trump is hailing is agreement with Iran as groundbreaking, even as he admits is “isn't even fully negotiated.” But the nuclear stockpile, enrichment and missiles have not been discussed.

Discussion: Israpundit, FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, NewsMax.com, The Post Millennial, Middle East Monitor, Reuters, RedState, Semafor, The Times of Israel, The Hill and Los Angeles Times

Reuters:

Rubio says US will find ‘another way’ if Iran talks fail — The United States will either have a good agreement with Iran or deal with the country “another way,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday, as Washington played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough in the three-month-old war.

Discussion: The Times of Israel, The Daily Signal, Townhall, Bloomberg, NPR, NewsMax.com and Washington Post

Paul Krugman:

Donald Trump's Ego-Driven “Excursion” Has Crashed Into Reality — Trump lost his war, bigly. Why? — “Many questions, few details in latest Iran peace proposal,” read the headline on a New York Times report Sunday. As the subhead explained, “It is too early to tell what exactly Trump …

Discussion: RealClearPolitics and New York Times

Wall Street Journal:

Will Trump Bail Out Iran's Regime? — The outlines of a 60-day framework agreement suggest U.S. concessions before a nuclear deal is signed. — Is that it? The American people are left to wonder as the terms of President Trump's emerging “memorandum of understanding” with Iran leak to the press.

Discussion: Reuters, American Thinker, Mediaite, NewsMax.com, New York Post and New York Times

Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
Trump's War Is Staggering to an Incoherent Defeat

Discussion: The Hill, CBS News, Forbes, RedState, HuffPost, MS NOW, CNBC, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Roll Call and The Guardian

Associated Press:
Trump says not to rush as details emerge of a potential Iran deal

Reuters:
Trump says Iran deal ‘largely negotiated’, would reopen Strait of Hormuz

Erika Solomon / New York Times:
Iran Projects Victory in Potential Deal With Washington

Discussion: Agence France-Presse, The Hill and NewsMax.com

Reuters:
US Treasury rout tests Washington's tolerance for higher borrowing costs

Discussion: NewsMax.com and Semafor

Barak Ravid / Axios:
Trump asked Muslim leaders to join Abraham Accords after Iran war ends

Discussion: New York Post, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, NewsMax.com, NPR, U.S. Home, Al Jazeera, Mediaite, The Guardian, Breitbart, The Times of Israel, HotAir, Middle East Monitor and Deadline

Sean James / Mediaite:
Trump Bashes ‘Losers’ Ripping His Iran Negotiations: 'I Don't Make Bad Deals!'

Discussion: NewsMax.com, The Free Press, The Independent, New York Sun, Fox News, American Thinker and New York Times

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast: Why Trump's Iran Mess Is Undeniable Proof of His Mental Unraveling

Barak Ravid / Axios:
White House says Iran deal could take days

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Breitbart, Middle East Monitor, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Semafor, The Contrarian and HotAir

New York Times:

Pope Leo Warns of Risks From A.I. in 42,300-Word Encyclical — The document marks a powerful foray by the leader of the Roman Catholic church into the debate about the misuse or overuse of artificial intelligence. — Pope Leo XIV on Monday set out a sweeping vision for corporate executives …

Discussion: vaticannews.va, CNN, Reuters, RNS, Mother Jones, Straight Arrow and New York Sun, more at Techmeme »

Associated Press:

Pope Leo XIV makes historic apology for Holy See's own role in legitimizing slavery — Watch live as Pope Leo XIV and Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah launch the pontiff's first encyclical, a document on the care of human dignity in the era of artificial intelligence.

Discussion: RTÉ and WTOP News, more at Techmeme »

Associated Press:

Pope calls for robust regulation of AI in manifesto that ponders the future of humanity — Pope Leo XIV called Monday for robust regulation of artificial intelligence and for its developers to work for the common good rather than profit, issuing a sweeping manifesto on safeguarding humankind …

Discussion: Breitbart, The Times of Israel, The Atlantic, KGW-TV, Politico, Bloomberg, NPR, Washington Post, WTOP News, RNS and RTÉ, more at Techmeme »

Elisabetta Povoledo / New York Times:
Pope Leo Has Released an Encyclical About A.I. Why Is That Important?

Discussion: RNS, Politico, Variety, vaticannews.va, Bloomberg, Diane Montagna's Substack, Althouse and The Daily Wire, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

Trump's Self-Indulgence Deepens G.O.P. Fears in Midterms … A little more than five months ahead of the midterm elections, President Trump seems to be focused on virtually anything other than keeping Republican control of Congress. — He endorsed a MAGA challenger over Texas's senior Republican senator …

Discussion: Fox News

Ramsey Touchberry / Washington Examiner:
GOP senators spurn anti-weaponization fund payout for phone data seizure: 'I don't need any compensation'

Discussion: New York Sun

Dan Diamond / Washington Post:

Trump faces health questions ahead of another Walter Reed trip — The president trumpets claims that he is in excellent health, but independent physicians say the White House hasn't answered key questions ahead of his third visit in 13 months. — Summary

Politico:

‘Rabbit holes all over the place’: How hard it would be for Trump to rebuild Cuba … “You're talking about a country that absolutely, 100 percent needs to be redone,” said Horacio Garcia Jr., a Cuban-American business leader based in Miami who is involved with the Cuban Liberty Council, which pushes for democracy in Cuba.

Washington Post:

How this age of extreme gerrymandering is transforming American politics — Politicians, no longer content to leave elections to chance, are working to choose their voters as often as every two years. — Summary — The nationwide redistricting battle that erupted last year has evolved into a forever war.

Discussion: WTOP News and American Thinker

Adam Sella / New York Times:

What to Know About the Citizenship Lists Trump Wants to Create — President Trump is trying to create individual lists of citizens by state to determine who can vote, even as his administration acknowledges they would be unreliable. — President Trump is seeking to create state-by-state citizenship lists …

Discussion: Election Law Blog

Daniel Boffey / The Guardian:

Trump Tower in Georgia to be built on land part-owned by son of US sanctions-hit leader — Links between Trump Organization and Ivanishvili family for Tbilisi skyscraper raise new conflict of interest concerns — A Trump Tower planned for the Georgian capital, Tbilisi …

more at Techmeme »

Don Moynihan / Can We Still Govern?:

Scenes from a personalist regime — When asked about constraints on his power, President Trump replied: “There is one thing. My own morality.” Not Congress. Not Courts. Not the constitution. Not law, domestic or international. Not allies. … His party can't stop him.

CNN:

State of the Union — JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Turning point? President Trump says he's closing in on a deal with Iran. — MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Perhaps a little bit later today, we'll have more to say. — TAPPER: But does Iran agree?

Discussion: Grabien and The Hill