The Shooter in Maine Was a New ICE Recruit  —  Sign up for Inside the Trump Presidency, a newsletter featuring coverage of the second Trump term.  —  Late last night, at the end of a day that started with the killing of a 26-year-old Colombian man in Maine, the second fatal shooting involving …

Man killed by truck as he fled immigration agents in St. Augustine  —  A 28-year-old man died Tuesday morning following an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations agents in St. Augustine, marking the third death involving ICE in a week.

Opportunities Narrow for Women as Hegseth Blocks More Promotions  —  For the first time in more than a decade, no active-duty female Navy officers are likely to be promoted to admiral this year.  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of seven senior Navy officers …

Trump Backs Off 20% Strait of Hormuz Fee  —  The decision comes just a day after the president floated the idea of charging other countries shipping cargo through waterway that Iran has sought to control  —  President Trump's Iran strategy abruptly reversed course Tuesday when he announced …

House Republicans home in on $80B reconciliation package  —  House Republican leaders and White House officials are coalescing around a roughly $80 billion policy package as they prepare for a final summer push to enact party-line budget reconciliation legislation.

Senate Democrats block $1.15 trillion defense authorization bill  —  Senate Democrats on Tuesday defeated a motion to proceed to the $1.15 trillion annual defense authorization bill, legislation that usually enjoys strong bipartisan support but this year has become snarled in a partisan fight over defense spending levels.

Trump Paid $2 Million by South Korean Company Facing Trade Investigation  —  The payment illustrates the minefield Mr. Trump has created by maintaining personal financial ties with foreign businesses while he is in office.  —  The lead investor in a South Korean aluminum company …

How MAGA cynically created a moral panic about Zohran Mamdani and Italian Americans  —  MAGA trolls and their allies in right-wing media joined forces last week to gin up an exceptionally dumb, cynically engineered culture war “outrage.”  Apparently, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani “hates” …

Jack Smith obtained text messages from 44 members of Congress  —  Former special counsel Jack Smith obtained text messages that 44 members of Congress sent to senior White House officials during the final weeks of President Donald Trump's first term, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley revealed Tuesday.

Trump Administration Subpoenas Law Firms, Escalating Pressure Campaign  —  The uneasy truce between the administration and the law firms it cut deals with last year has erupted into a pitched legal battle behind closed doors.  —  Since President Trump cut deals with nine …

Statement from Captain Sully Sullenberger  —  Lorrie and I often said we won the baby lottery with our two daughters.  And we have learned what people say is actually true: that grandchildren are a game changer.  Our granddaughter gives a whole new meaning to life.

Elon Musk likely broke the law by giving voters $1 million, Wisconsin board says  —  Billionaire Elon Musk likely broke Wisconsin law when he handed out $1 million checks to voters in the 2025 state Supreme Court election, a bipartisan panel has found.  —  The Wisconsin Elections Commission …

New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Director Rejects ‘Politically Correct’ Casting … Andy Serkis said his upcoming “Lord of the Rings” film will not embrace “politically correct” casting, saying he won't prioritize diversity for its own sake.  —  Speaking to the BBC, Serkis, who is directing …

Authorities investigate Taco Bell and lettuce as cyclosporiasis outbreak surges  —  CDC identifies link among four Midwestern states, the first public indication of a common source in multiple outbreaks that have sickened more than 4,000.  —  Summary  —  Federal and state health officials …

Judges grow skeptical about DOJ's use of grand juries  —  An “arbitrary fishing expedition.”  “An unconstitutional effort to coerce.”  “A convenient pretext for launching a criminal investigation.”  —  Federal judges are increasingly peering under the hood at the Trump-led Justice Department's use …

Key GOP senator concerned over Blanche involvement in Trump IRS deal  —  Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he is “concerned” about acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's role in crafting a settlement between President Trump, the Internal Revenue Service …

Little Gitmos everywhere  —  The White House explores entrenching U.S. concentration camps worldwide.  —  Last week, I got a message from journalist Charles Davis.  He asked me to comment for an article about a call for contractors he'd noticed on Sam.gov. The U.S. government, it seemed …

Trump Derangement Syndrome is getting in the way of my love life  —  The heavily leftward-biased traditional media (but also those on the right) is at fault for much of this.  —  Charles Robinson was a university professor for 40 years, overlapping with 30 years in the VA Medical Centers, helping veterans with spinal cord injury.

Hakeem Jeffries says he will oppose bid to cut off Israel aid  —  House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told fellow Democrats Tuesday he will oppose an amendment aimed at cutting off U.S. aid to Israel, wading directly into a contentious issue that is dividing the party.

Trump plans primetime speech on voting machines and foreign influence in elections  —  The president is also expected to release declassified intelligence documents — four months before the November midterms.  —  President Donald Trump is preparing to deliver a primetime speech that will focus …

Alligator Alcatraz is no more.  Tents, cars, signs disappear from airport site  —  The bright blue sign reading ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ outside the silver chain-link gate at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport has been removed.  The airstrip, formerly used to hold immigrants in industrial tents …

US state department offers $3mn grants to Maga-aligned groups in Europe  —  Agency seeks to repurpose foreign aid funds to help organisations that support Trump administration policies  —  The US state department is offering grants of up to $3mn for Maga-aligned European groups that combat …

Bipartisan group of senators introducing legislation to avert looming Social Security shortfall  —  With Social Security's looming insolvency date roughly six years away, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is announcing plans to introduce a proposal to grapple with one of the most consequential …

'I'm Joe Lombardo': Nevada governor not ticketed after being pulled over in a traffic stop  —  Nevada's governor was pulled over by a Las Vegas police officer in May for allegedly failing to stop at a red light before making a right turn in his pickup truck.  He wasn't ticketed after identifying himself.

E. Jean Carroll finally gets Trump's $5 million — plus interest  —  Writer E. Jean Carroll finally has the $5 million — plus interest — that a jury ordered President Donald Trump to pay her in damages in one of her two cases against him, after Trump fought the payout for years.

McConnell's absence creates new farm bill roadblock  —  Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) ongoing absence from the Capitol is threatening to derail Senate Republicans' hopes of advancing a long-awaited farm bill before the August recess.  Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) …

We Went on the Road With Mike Johnson and His 1,477 Unread Text Messages  —  House speaker works long hours as he manages a rowdy Republican conference and takes calls at all hours of the night from Trump  —  WASHINGTON—Mike Johnson doesn't even try to put his phone down anymore.

Senate Democrat requests investigation into whether RFK Jr. broke Hatch Act  —  Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oreg.) on Monday asked the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to investigate whether Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. violated the Hatch Act last month when he spoke …

How Low Would Sam Alito Go?  —  Brace yourself for LEGAL judicial election interference, and another heist.  —  ∙ Paid  —  Catching up with post-vacation news over the weekend, I happened upon this somewhat mortifying story about NPR's veteran Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg …

New Mexico AG, federal DOJ clash over Epstein records  —  A public dispute between New Mexico's attorney general and the U.S. Justice Department escalated Tuesday over records sought in the state's Jeffrey Epstein investigation. … - In a letter last month to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche …

ICE reverses, admits it may have trove of documents on agents at polling places  —  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lawyers have told a court that the agency may have thousands of documents relevant to Democrats' demand for the Trump administration's possible plans to deploy immigration agents at the polls this fall.