Top Items:
Politico:
‘A circular firing squad’: Senate GOP pushes back on Trump's tiff with Thune — President Donald Trump is escalating his war of words against Senate Majority Leader John Thune. He's still not likely to get what he wants. — Trump on Wednesday told rally-goers in Georgia to “call John Thune” …
Discussion:
Fox News, The Hill, Blaze Media, Raw Story, MS NOW, Washington Examiner, NewsMax.com, New York Times, The Independent, New York Sun, PoliticusUSA and NOTUS
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New Republic:
Angry Trump Openly Urges GOP to Rig Midterms as Brutal Fox Poll Hits — Donald Trump exploded at Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday, taking the extraordinary step of demanding during a rally that Thune hurry up and railroad GOP holdouts to pass the horrific voter suppression bill known as the SAVE Act.
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story and Washington Examiner
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Is Losing Patience Over an Iran War With No Clear End in Sight — President has grown skeptical of diplomacy and is in ‘revenge mode’ against Tehran, according to a senior administration official — WASHINGTON—President Trump was fed up. — During a recent meeting in the Oval Office …
Discussion:
Foreign Policy, HotAir, The Independent, The Wrap, New Republic, Raw Story, Instapundit, Middle East Monitor, Truthout and Eschaton
Paul Krugman:
Quagmire of the Vanities — Yesterday Donald Trump declared that the Iran war is going “better than anybody expected could be done.” He's delusional, of course. And his delusions are the reason the price of oil is back at around $100 a barrel, and — as I'll explain shortly — the effective price is much higher than that.
Discussion:
Politico, New Republic, The Guardian, New York Times, Scripps News and Reuters
New York Times:
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him — Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.
Discussion:
The Guardian and The Jersey Vindicator
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Poll: These Americans say they'd be disenfranchised by Trump's election law — Strength In Numbers is independent and reader-funded. Paying subscribers get premium posts like weekly Deep Dive article, can access our community Discord server, and support the data collection and analysis work …
Discussion:
ABC News
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Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
MAGA's “pasta pass” talking point is height of gaslighting — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🥖 Subscribe to PN 🥖 — It looks like Republicans settled on a talking point about why the SAVE America Act is totally necessary …
Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
Thursday was the worst day for DOJ. So far. — The degradation of the Justice Department in the second Trump administration is clear, is having immediate effects, and will have long-term effects. Just how degraded DOJ has become was on full display in the Southern District of New York on Thursday.
Discussion:
NPR, Above the Law, Wonkette, CNBC, The Status Kuo, American Prospect, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, Poynter, emptywheel, Courthouse News Service, ABC News, Society of Professional …, NBC News, NOTUS, UPI, PoliticusUSA, Al Jazeera, MS NOW, Associated Press, Deadline, Washington Examiner, The Independent, The Guardian, Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Straight Arrow, The Hill, All Rise News, Joe.My.God. and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »
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Michael Calderone / New York Magazine:
Trump Press Attacks Loom Over White House Correspondents' Dinner Do-over
Discussion:
CBS News, Associated Press, Straight Arrow, The Daily Wire, Joe.My.God., Deadline, Al Jazeera, NOTUS, News Talk 105.9, The Contrarian, Poynter and NPR, more at Mediagazer »
Politico:
Dinner with a side of ‘vicious’
Dinner with a side of ‘vicious’
Discussion:
Mock Paper Scissors, Raw Story and Los Angeles Times
Patrick Svitek / CNN:
Joe Manchin reenters the political orbit with a new independent experiment — At 78, Joe Manchin is stepping back into politics. — A year and a half after leaving office fed up with the major parties, the former West Virginia senator is launching a new effort, the Independent Leadership Council …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Semafor
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Emily Davies / New York Times:
How a Grieving Trump Decided to Back Lindsey Graham's Sister for Senate — The president initially backed a little-known congressman. Then he talked to Gov. Henry McMaster and Ms. Graham herself. — The morning after Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died, President Trump floated …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com, Staff Stories, New York Magazine and Joe.My.God.
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Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
Republicans skeptical Darline Graham can win a full Senate term
Republicans skeptical Darline Graham can win a full Senate term
Discussion:
NewsMax.com and Raw Story
Natasha Sarin / New York Times:
Trump's Tariff Runaround Defies the Courts and Common Sense — Effective tariff rates are going to change on Friday for the 45th time in the last 18 months — an average of once every 12 days. Rates will ratchet up yet again next month if President Trump's recently announced 50 percent levy on some Canadian goods goes into effect.
Discussion:
CBS News, Reason, CNBC, CNN, Townhall, NPR, Asia Times, Semafor, NewsMax.com, Christian Science Monitor, Newsweek, Washington Post and The Dispatch
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The Guardian:
Trump accused of using forced labor as ‘convenient’ justification for tariffs
Trump accused of using forced labor as ‘convenient’ justification for tariffs
Discussion:
Associated Press, Reuters, HotAir, Breitbart, Bloomberg, The Hill, Newsweek, Washington Post, CBS News, Axios, NPR, DeLong's Grasping …, Straight Arrow, Forbes, New Republic, Cafe Hayek, MS NOW, Washington Times, Business Insider, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, New York Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money and New York Times
Status:
Vega Breaks Her Silence … On Thursday evening, Cecilia Vega, the first Latina correspondent on “60 Minutes” who was inexplicably fired by CBS News boss Bari Weiss, took the stage in New Orleans at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference & Expo.
Discussion:
New York Post, The Daily Beast, Deadline, The Independent, Raw Story, The Wrap, Lawyers, Guns & Money and New Republic, more at Mediagazer »
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New York Times:
Number of U.S. Troop Deaths Suddenly Appears Lower on Pentagon Website — Three military officials and a Pentagon spokesman gave conflicting explanations for why the number of Americans killed in the Iran war had changed. — On Wednesday, the Pentagon reported on its casualties website …
Discussion:
CBS News, The Hill, CNBC, Esquire, The Guardian, Reason, Salt Lake Tribune, Truthout, OutsideTheBeltway, MS NOW, Staff Stories, The Bulwark, The Daily Beast, Daily Mail, Mock Paper Scissors, Wonkette, 19FortyFive, New Republic, Joe.My.God., The Independent, Raw Story, Steady and Washington Examiner
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Jacey Fortin / New York Times:
Angst, Love and a Longing to Return Home From War
Angst, Love and a Longing to Return Home From War
Discussion:
Military.com, Raw Story and The Independent
Emily Hallas / Washington Examiner:
Platner's lead strategist says his Reddit posts and Nazi-linked tattoo ‘should have been enough’ to drop him — The lead strategist for former Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said the campaign made strategic mistakes, weeks after he dropped out of the Maine race due to a rape allegation.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, New York Post, New York Times, Jewish Insider, Centralmaine.com and Fox News
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Natalie Allison / Washington Post:
Knives are out for Vance in the GOP. His allies say it's a coordinated ‘op.’ — The vice president has faced a barrage of attacks recently that are unusual for their intensity and how early in the political calendar they are taking place. — Summary — As JD Vance prepares …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog, NewsMax.com, The Guardian and Raw Story
Matt Novak / Gizmodo:
Elon Musk Melts Down Over Perfectly Normal Questions in Wild New Interview — “Maybe some people do loathe me. And that's probably true. I don't care,” said Musk. — Elon Musk sat down with the editor-in-chief of the Economist for a taped interview that went live Thursday.
Discussion:
USA Today, PJ Media, Fox News, The Daily Wire, twitchy.com, RedState, The Gateway Pundit and The Economist
Teddy Rosenbluth / New York Times:
Measles Cases Hit New Record in U.S., as Vaccination Rates Wane — More measles cases have been reported in the United States in the last two years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined. — The United States has now recorded more cases of measles in 2026 than in any other year since …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Fox News, Protect Our Care, Al Jazeera, Wonkette, CBS News and Los Angeles Times
Evan Halper / Washington Post:
Why this gas price surge could be different — After five months of war, analysts say oil markets will be forced to price in long-term disruption to global energy flows. — Summary — American drivers face fresh sticker shock after disruptions from the Iran war intensified in recent days …
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, Associated Press, Raw Story, The Independent, abc7NY and 19FortyFive
Amy Curtis / Townhall:
Why Isn't the Left Outraged About Nancy Armour? — It was 1955, and 14-year-old Emmett Till was visiting relatives near Money, Mississippi, when he went to a grocery store. What happened at the store, exactly, has been disputed for years, but Till was accused of flirting, touching, or whistling at the proprietor, Carolyn Bryant.
Discussion:
Front Office Sports, Breitbart, The Post Millennial, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, TheGrio, Blaze Media, Fox News and TMZ.com
Reese Gorman / NOTUS:
Mike Johnson Is ‘Sick of This Shit’ (But Sorry He Said So) — Most House Republicans are frustrated that a small band of conservatives are upending the party's agenda, yet they face few consequences. — Copy — Speaker Mike Johnson was at his wit's end.
Discussion:
The Independent, New Republic, Raw Story and Washington Examiner
Jessie Blaeser / Politico:
Poll: Republicans' gas price problem is even worse than it seems — Gas prices are high. Americans think they're even higher. — Three in five Americans believe gas prices in their area have risen by more than they actually have, according to an analysis of new results from The POLITICO Poll.
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, Joe.My.God., Washington Examiner, New York Times and Pen Strokes
Aaron Pellish / Politico:
Dems pick South Carolina to lead 2028 primary calendar — The state edged Nevada to be first, marking a major shift from past primary schedules — Democrats voted to make South Carolina their first presidential primary state for 2028 — a significant shift from past election cycles …
Discussion:
New York Times, MS NOW, Bloomberg, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Axios, Washington Times, Townhall, Scripps News, Joe.My.God., The Daily Wire, HotAir, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit and ABC News
Associated Press:
Trump says US will investigate EU trade practices, claiming the bloc unfairly fined US tech giants — President Donald Trump says Friday that the United States will open a formal investigation into the European Union's trade practices, claiming the bloc has unfairly levied billions of dollars …
Discussion:
CNBC, The Guardian, The Independent, Ars Technica, Politico, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Semafor and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
GOP hawks urge Trump to go big as he weighs ‘massive attack’ on Iran — Republican defense hawks are urging President Trump to unleash major combat operations as the commander-in-chief weighs a “massive attack” on Iran. — These signals coincide with Trump's escalatory rhetoric …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner, The Guardian and Joe.My.God.
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