Trump Has Given Up  —  Another day of many errands and meetings, so another short, informal post.  —  Donald Trump will never admit that his gratuitous Iran war has been a total disaster.  But the debacle has clearly broken him.  So we are now saddled with a president who has given up governing …

CBS News Fires Scott Pelley of ‘60 Minutes’  —  Mr. Pelley, a longtime correspondent and former “CBS Evening News” anchor, harshly criticized the show's leadership during a staff meeting on Monday.  —  CBS News fired Scott Pelley on Tuesday, he said, jettisoning one of the network's best-known journalists …

Trump's pick for Iowa governor loses GOP primary in upset  —  Rep. Randy Feenstra's loss to farmer Zach Lahn is a blow to the president's dominance in Republican nominating contests.  —  Summary  —  President Donald Trump's pick for Iowa governor, Rep. Randy Feenstra …

America Broke Something When It Gave Trump a Second Chance  —  The Heritage Foundation's “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” — popularly known as Project 2025 — was much more than a wish list of conservative policy preferences.  It was much more, even, than a blueprint for a second Trump administration.

Trump Blames Court Block for Collapse of ‘Weaponization’ Fund  —  President Donald Trump said his administration was dropping plans for a $1.8 billion fund to pay victims of alleged government “weaponization” only because a federal court temporarily blocked the move, which had become a political lightning rod.

Aftermath: Something Is Going to Snap  —  This story was first featured in the Aftermath newsletter, a series from David Dayen exploring the economic consequences of the war in Iran.  To have these stories delivered to your in-box as soon as they are published, sign up for the newsletter here.

G. Elliott Morris  —  This chart from the latest YouGov/Economist poll result is really quite stunning.  Trump's net approval is not only deeply negative, but about 15(!!) points below what it was at this point in 2018.  With this data you'd expect this year's midterms to be even worse …

Trump says Iran has agreed to not have a nuclear weapon  —  U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran has agreed not to have a nuclear weapon and that he would probably meet with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei at some point if things “work out”.  —  “They've already agreed they're …

Rules of Engagement When the Troops Appear at Polling Sites  —  State election officials can mitigate the perils of federal “armed men” at the polls.  —  Meet The Authors  —  Open, noncoercive, and safe elections are a hallmark of a healthy democracy.  Today, those characteristics are in jeopardy.

Americans' national parks passes will pay for Trump's July 4 plans, documents show  —  Entry fees are going toward a $1.6 million fireworks display and D.C. beautification, while donations will fund a $5 million helipad at the White House.  —  Summary  —  The Trump administration is diverting …

U.S. Support for LGBTQ+ Issues Remains Down From Peak  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — After two decades of rising support for LGBTQ+ issues, U.S. attitudes have plateaued and begun to slide back modestly.  Approval of same-sex marriage, moral acceptance of gay and lesbian relations …

The Supreme Court Just Transformed Its Horrible Voting Rights Ruling Into Something More Calamitous  —  This is part of Opinionpalooza, Slate's coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court.  The best way to support our work—and unlock exclusive legal analysis—is by joining Slate Plus.

Trump library says no Twitter DMs can be found, despite evidence he sent them  —  Records show that Trump's first administration opted not to save DMs in its library archives, raising questions about compliance with the Presidential Records Act.  —  Summary

Trump Begins Rebuilding His Tariff Wall, Citing Forced Labor  —  The US is proposing new tariffs of at least 10% on imports from 60 trading partners in President Donald Trump's biggest move to rebuild his protectionist wall since his earlier levies were struck down by the Supreme Court.

Rep. Ogles deletes homophobic tweet, blames staff amid rare GOP pushback  —  A post on the Tennessee Republican's official X account Tuesday stated: “Homosexuality has no place in America.  Happy Nuclear Family Month.”  —  Summary  —  Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tennessee) …

‘Infuriated’ Former Judges Take on Trump  —  Critics say it is unseemly for retired judges to trade on the prestige of their former positions.  —  Judges retain a special status even after they hang up their robes.  Addressing them in a 2020 article, an American Bar Association official …

Bessent, Wyden get in heated back and forth over Jeffrey Epstein  —  In his opening statement, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, ripped Bessent for not turning over financial records related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Senate GOP drops $1 billion for White House ballroom from budget package  —  Senate Republicans have stripped language providing up to $1 billion for security upgrades to the proposed White House ballroom from a revised budget reconciliation bill unveiled on Wednesday.

Was Kash Patel's Winter Olympics Trip for Work or Play?  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Do you remember FBI Director Kash Patel's viral video showing him drinking with the US men's national ice hockey team at the Olympics?  We do, and we think it's time there's some transparency around his winter trip.

Lawmakers Demand Answers After the White House Initiated a $620M Loan to a Firm Tied to Donald Trump Jr.  —  In a letter, a group of Democratic Congress members wrote that ProPublica's reporting on the deal “reveals a staggering level of corruption and influence.”