memeorandum: Mamdani: Democratic socialist candidates ‘can get elected anywhere across this country for any position’ (Julia Cherner/ABC News)

1:35 PM ET, June 28, 2026

Top Items:

Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes and threatens to halt talks to end the war — Iran launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to U.S. airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” in negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks.

Discussion: Reuters, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Washington Examiner, The Hill, CNBC, Al Jazeera, NewsMax.com, Breitbart, The Kyiv Independent, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Blue Virginia, The American Conservative, Fox News and Taipei Times

Barak Ravid / Axios:

U.S.-Iran ceasefire could go up in flames … - Over the past few days, tension between the U.S. and Iran has been escalating with another exchange of strikes on Saturday. … - With the situation escalating by the day, it isn't clear if the next round of negotiations between the U.S …

Discussion: Townhall, Meidas+, Breitbart, The Hill, The Times of Israel, Israpundit, RTÉ, Washington Examiner, Reuters and Al Jazeera

Barak Ravid / Axios: Behind the scenes: How shared fear of Iran led to an Israel-Lebanon deal

New York Times:
Mideast Live Updates: U.S. and Iran Trade Attacks With Few Signs of De-escalation

Discussion: Jewish Insider and UPI

Barak Ravid / Axios:
U.S. launches fresh Iran strikes as Trump threatens to “complete the job”

Discussion: Associated Press, Mediaite, One America News Network, Al Jazeera, NewsMax.com, News Talk 105.9, HotAir, RedState, Raw Story, Agence France-Presse, Washington Examiner, Stars & Stripes and Reuters

Financial Times:
US and Iran exchange strikes as ceasefire falters

Discussion: The American Conservative, Metro.co.uk and Daily Mail

New York Times:
Live Updates: Hostilities Flare Between U.S. and Iran, Testing Truce

Discussion: Al Jazeera, The Hill, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite and Reuters

Washington Post:
U.S. says it hit targets in Iran as hostilities erupt over Hormuz for third day

Discussion: Breitbart, Straight Arrow, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Times of Israel, Washington Examiner, Robert Reich, Bloomberg, Middle East Monitor, Al Jazeera, Daily Mail, Raw Story and MS NOW

New York Times:

Trump Cut a Billion-Dollar Mining Deal. His Sons Stand to Profit. — An agreement between the U.S. and Kazakhstan has given a group of American investors with ties to the president and the commerce secretary access to one of the world's largest untapped reserves of tungsten.

Discussion: Raw Story

Paul Sonne / New York Times:
Kazakhstan's Leader Deepens U.S. Ties, Saying Trump Was ‘Sent by Heaven’

Discussion: RedState and NewsMax.com

New York Times:

White House Secretly Swayed Board Meant to Stop Civil Service Politicization — Behind the scenes, the Trump White House went to extensive lengths to advance its theory of executive power, potentially giving the president remarkable leeway to install loyalists at nearly every echelon of government.

Discussion: Raw Story

Ali Bianco / Politico:

The Dem primary on ICE — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Irie Sentner — Good Sunday morning. This is Ali Bianco, in the driver's seat today. Sending all my thoughts to the families in Venezuela's capital, many of whom may still be searching for their relatives after last week's earthquakes.

Avery Lotz / Axios:

Supreme Court's blockbuster week will put Trump's power to the test … - Trump is no stranger to pushing the limits as commander in chief, and told “The Axios Show” last week that there are “no limits” to his power in office since going to war with Iran.

Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press: America split from monarchy 250 years ago. Trump's presidency is testing how far it's come

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
Supreme Court Leaves Trump's Fed, Citizenship Gambits for Last

Discussion: Raw Story and NewsMax.com

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:

Observers are noting that the reflecting pool fiasco, in which Trump created the idea there was an emergency, ignored experts, bypassed normal procedures to give a wildly inflated contract to a crony, bragged about his success, ignored the problems, claimed his enemies had sabotaged him …

Discussion: The Independent

Cheyanne M. Daniels / Politico:

Sen. Thom Tillis rails against Trump's fixation on voting legislation … Rather than promoting the bill — which would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end widespread mail-in voting — Tillis said Republicans should tell voters about …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:
With time running out, Trump digs in on changing midterm election rules

Discussion: Democracy Docket

Washington Post:

Trump's vision for White House park: 47 trees to mark his presidency — The president has called Lafayette Square “the entrance to the White House.” Contractors have been renovating the park for months and are likely to miss Trump's original goal of reopening before July 4. — Summary

Discussion: NewsMax.com and Raw Story

Mike Zapler / Axios:

The Republican Party is starting to turn on Israel — Benjamin Netanyahu lost the Democrats. Now a growing number of Republicans are souring on him and his country, too. … - For 15 years, Netanyahu offset collapsing Democratic support by cultivating Republicans.

Margaret Brennan / CBS News:

Cassidy accuses RFK Jr. of building public health “upon a foundation of lies” — Add CBS News on Google — Washington — Sen. Bill Cassidy strongly criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his vaccine skepticism and handling of the nation's public health …

Discussion: The Hill

Julia Cherner / ABC News:

Mamdani: Democratic socialist candidates ‘can get elected anywhere across this country for any position’ — ABC's Jonathan Karl exclusively sat down with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. — ABC News' Jonathan Karl sits down with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in an exclusive interview.

Discussion: The Hill and Washington Times

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Why the nation's founding document is marred by stains, a mysterious handprint … Summary — Every year, a million people wander through the temple-like rotunda of the National Archives and peer through a thick glass case to glimpse the document upon which this country was founded.

Emma Crabtree / The US Sun:

Streamer dressed as Uncle Sam arrested for masturbating during show at Great American State Fair in latest embarrassment — Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook — A STREAMER has been arrested at the Great American State Fair for allegedly masturbating during a performance.

Discussion: Daily Mail and The Daily Beast